Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?
by Riyo-sama
Summary: Edited.Kakashi finds himself bored one day, and in an effort to relieve that boredom decides to challenge his teams former sensei to a fight. It ends up leading to friendship, and possibly more. kakaxiru.
1. Challenge accepted

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Naruto is owned and created my Masashi Kishamoto-sensei. 

**Note:** This chapter was edited on January 11, 2006. Some previous content that came before and after the chapter has been removed and replaced.

I'm going to try to keep the changes restricted to spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. I will also change the internal thoughts of characters over to italics as I have done in later chapters.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?**

Chapter one-Challenge accepted

By Riyo-sama Beta read

by Silverone

Hatake Kakashi was flat out bored. His team didn't have any missions, they had already ended training for the day (much to the annoyance of his genin students, since he had arrived late as usual and ended their training at noon), and even Icha Icha Paradise couldn't occupy him like it usually did. He would have tried sparring with Gai if it weren't for the fact that he was on a mission that day._ Lucky Bastard!_ The thought hadn't appealed that much anyways.

The silver haired jounin, with his one visible eye, was scanning the streets from his vantage point on the roof of a building which he was occupying, trying to find something interesting.

He soon noticed a familiar head of spiky blond hair, walking next to a young man with brown hair up in a ponytail and a horizontal scar across his nose, wearing the common chunin/jounin uniform. The first was his student, Uzumaki Naruto. The second he didn't know personally, only from his student's descriptions (and some rather discreet snooping on his part). Umino Iruka was a chunin instructor at the academy and had also taught all three of his current students.

Suddenly, the sight of the chunin instructor gave him an idea for how he could cure himself of his boredom and better acquaint himself with his student's former instructor, effectively killing two birds with one stone. A smirk came to his face as he started to hop down the rooftops to where his student and the young teacher were.

* * *

(Going back a bit in time.)

"Iruka-sensei!", cried Naruto as he came bounding into the empty classroom and launched himself at his former instructor in a full-scale flying-tackle glomp that knocked Iruka out of his chair. Sitting up with Naruto clinging to his waist, Iruka was too surprised to be upset about the papers he was grading that had gone flying in all directions. "Naruto, why are you here? I thought you would still be working on missions or training. It's only noon."

Naruto finally let go of Iruka and let the man stand up, and then gave an exasperated sigh. "Kakashi-sensei didn't come until eight, and there were no missions. Then he said that we could stop training for the day. I was going to train more on my own, but I got hungry. Iruka-sensei, will you buy me ramen?" The first part was said with a very annoyed look and tone of voice, but the last sentence was said happily and with a hopeful look at the brown haired chunin.

Iruka looked at his smiling and expectant former student and then at the mess of papers that he had temporarily forgotten. He looked at Naruto and then smiled. "I'll buy you ramen, but only if you help me clean up this mess." Naruto noticed the papers that were laying everywhere for the first time and laughed sheepishly.

After having spent a good ten minutes picking up all the papers (Naruto spent at least three minutes trying to get a single one that had some how gotten underneath the classroom cabinets and was too far back for Naruto's short, little arms to reach, so Iruka had to get it out himself), Iruka locked them away in his desk (promising himself to come back and finish grading them later), grabbed his wallet, and headed out for the Ichiruka with Naruto.

Once outside the academy, the hyperactive genin went into a long rant on Kakashi-sensei's faults (and good points), how he would beat Sasuke, become Hokage, and get Sakura-chan to like him.

* * *

(Back to the present moment.)

They were half-way to the ramen stand when Naruto started to run out of steam. Iruka was listening with a smile and nodded at appropriate intervals. Suddenly a voice from above said, "Yo! Naruto, Iruka-sensei." Both Iruka and Naruto looked up to see the masked, silver haired jounin who was sitting up on the roof above them, a hand casually raised in the air in greeting and his single visible eye closed and curved into a smile.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing up there?", asked Naruto, sounding rather annoyed (he still hadn't forgiven Kakashi for showing up late again and ending training so early, on top of there being no missions). Kakashi hopped down and landed in front of the two with ease before replying.

"Just thought I'd drop in and keep you company.", he said in an off-handed manner.

"…, Kakashi-sensei, you're bored, aren't you?", Naruto said while giving Kakashi a flat stare. Kakashi sweat dropped. _Bull's-eye._

"What gave you that idea?", asked Kakashi.

Naruto was still staring flatly, "You don't usually hang out with me, and you don't know Iruka-sensei." Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Hmm, there's a first time for everything, and I can get to know Iruka-sensei if I spend time with you." Naruto seemed satisfied with this answer so he let itdrop.

Kakashi then turned to Iruka and said with a trace of humor in his voice, "Don't you have classes to teach sensei?" Iruka's eye twitched.

"There were no classes today, I was grading papers. And Kakashi-sensei, if you are bored you could simply try training your students for more than just four hours." Iruka stressed the word sensei as if to emphasis the fact that he was in a position of authority and should be more responsible.

"Oh, but it would be much more boring to do nothing but train all day when the weather is so nice." Kakashi smiled brightly, and Iruka just stared at him in disbelief.

At this point, Naruto pulled on Iruka's sleeve, "Iruka-sensei, I'm hungry. Can we go eat ramen now?"

Kakashi had an amused glint in his eye, "mmm, can I have ramen too if I promise to behave, sensei?" Iruka glared at him with annoyance, but it only got him a happy face from Kakashi, so he sighed in defeat and said yes.

He didn't know why he was so irritated at the man. It wasn't so much the jounin's much complained of lateness or his slacking off from teaching. For some reason he felt the uneasy certainty that the jounin was planning some sort of mischief. He had experienced this feeling many times before, and always just before Naruto pulled one of his pranks. He knew the feeling wasn't coming from Naruto, because the feeling hadn't come until Kakashi showed up. It then hit him that the reason it irritated him so much was because while he knew what Naruto was capable of doing, he didn't have a clue as to what Kakashi might do. He decided that he would just have to get through the situation as best he could, and pushed it to the back of his mind.

During his inner introspection, he allowed Naruto to pull him the rest of the way to Ichiruka. Naruto resumed his ranting were he had left off with renewed vigor. Kakashi trailed behind with an amused expression on his face (hidden by his mask) from his bubbling student's antics.

Upon arriving at the ramen stand, they sat down with Naruto between them, Kakashi on the left and Iruka on the right. When they had received their bowls of ramen, Naruto immediately began to consume his at an amazing rate. Iruka began eating his at a much more sedate pace, while Kakashi just stared at Naruto for a minute before turning to his own. _How does he not_ _choke eating like that?_ he wondered.

By the time Iruka had finished his bowl, Naruto was on his third. He looked over at Kakashi and noticed that he was finished as well, and looking at him.

"So, do you have anything to do today besides grade papers?" Kakashi's look gave away nothing, and his tone was conversational, but the feeling that he was planning something came back with a vengeance. He had heard a lot about Kakashi from Naruto, enough to worry him, but not enough to let him know what the man might do. The only thing he was sure of was that Kakashi was a skilled fighter. The rumors that floated around about Kakashi didn't really help his imagination either.

"Not really, this is my day off, and I'm trying to catch up on some work that I've had to put off for a while know."

"Ah, why would you want to do something as boring as work when it's such a nice day and when there are much more interesting things to do?" Kakashi was smiling, while Iruka was starting to get annoyed again.

"If I don't do it today, then I'll have twice as much to do tomorrow, plus I'll have less time to work on those papers with classes to teach. Kakashi-sensei, we both seem to have different ideas on how it is best to spend one's day off." Iruka caught a mischievous glint in Kakashi's eye, making him even more suspicious of the jounin.

"Hmm, well why don't we see whose idea is better?"

Iruka answered warily, "And just what idea might that be and how do you propose we test it?"

Kakashi smirked and said, "A match."

Iruka blinked. "A match?"

By now Naruto had finished his sixth bowl of ramen and was now paying attention to the conversation rather intently, looking from one sensei to the other in order to hear what the response would be.

"Yes, a match. The one who wins gets whatever he wants." Kakashi added the last part as an after thought, in case Iruka needed something to entice him.

Iruka, trying to keep the interest out of his voice and failing said, "What kind of match would this be?"

He had the chunin's interest aroused, that was good. "Hmm," he thought about it for a minute, "Tai-jutsu. You can use chakra to strengthen your body, but you can't use gen or nin-jutsu. Shurkiens and kunai are allowed, the first person to score two hits wins." Kakashi seemed to think a little more and added, "And I promise not to use the Sharingan."

Iruka debated, it had been a long time since he fought or sparred with some one for the sake of doing so. Well, not so much just for the fight in this case, since the winner would get something. But it didn't sound like such a bad idea. It also sounded like a rather fair match, but he couldn't help worrying, "I don't know…."

Kakashi gave him a 'you're no fun' look before saying in a teasing voice, "Are the academy sensei's skills not good enough to take me on?" Iruka's eye twitched violently at the implication that his skills were inferior because he was an academy sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei, one cannot properly teach what one has not already mastered himself. If there is a flaw in the sensei's instruction, then the student will have difficulty in properly mastering the technique as well. Flawless instruction comes with flawless mastery of the skills taught." Iruka said all this in a very tight and chilly voice. Naruto was looking at him wide-eyed, having never heard him talk like this before. Kakashi looked unperturbed. He was quite happy actually, he finally managed to press the right button.

"Well, if you're that skilled, why not prove it and have a match with me?" He patiently waited for a response. Iruka seemed to be thinking again.

There was an inner struggle going on in Iruka right then. A grown up voice was saying _Don't rise to the bait. He's just a_ _bored and_ (Kakashi had taken out Icha Icha Paradise at this point) _**perverted** jounin trying to pick a fight for fun. You ha_ve _to set a good example for Naruto, there are papers to grade, and who knows how many other problems might be caused by_ _this?_ Another, more childish voice was saying _He's challenged you, and even had the nerve to question your abilities as a_ _ninja. You have to avenge your pride! Grind his ass into the ground!_

The voices were cut off when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down at Naruto. "Ne, Ne, Iruka-sensei," he whispered, "You can take Kakashi-sensei, you're really good at tai-jutsu. And when you win, you can make Kakashi-sensei buy us ramen!" Naruto beamed at Iruka, and Iruka couldn't help but smile back. Naruto's confidence was always so encouraging.

Kakashi looked up from his book and gave Iruka a questioning glance. Iruka gave him a smile and said, "Challenge accepted."

Kakashi's eye curved up, and he said, "Ah, then I'll give you a chance to prepare, and we can meet at the bridge to decide what to do from there." And with that, Kakashi stood up, formed some hand seals, and disappeared.

Naruto was bouncing with excitement, "I have to go tell Sakura-chan," and he added as an after thought, "and maybe Sasuke." He ran off before Iruka could stop him. Iruka paid for the ramen, and made his way to his house. Just as he reached his front door, it hit him. He had just accepted challenge from none other than Sharingan Kakashi, the copy-ninja himself. Him, a mere chunin academy instructor, up against an elite jounin. He was doomed. Who knew what Kakashi might make him do? Even if his tai-jutsu was good for a chunin, the other man had more fighting experience and probably more stamina too.

He groaned and entered his house. "What have I gotten myself into?"

* * *

This is the end of chapter one. As stated before this chapter was edited, I only accept nitpickiness for spelling of Japanese words. But constructive criticism is also welcome. I hope that old readers of this don't mind the changes, and that new readers enjoy this story. Jaa ne! 


	2. And the winner is

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Naruto is owned and created by Masashi Kishamoto-sensei. 

**Note:** This chapter was edited on January 11, 2006. Some previous content from before and after the chapter may have been removed or replaced.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?  
**Chapter two-And the winner is…  
By Riyo-sama

Beta read by Silverone

Iruka's preparation's didn't take long. He did a quick exercise to make sure his muscles wouldn't be strained and meditated for a few minutes to calm his nerves. He grabbed some extra shuriken and kunai before leaving his house and locking the door.

When he arrived at the bridge he found his three former students already waiting. Naruto had excitement rolling off of him in almost tangible waves.

"Iruka-sensei! Kick lazy-sensei's ass!", yelled Naruto as he once again glomped Iruka, although this time Iruka somehow managed to avoid being knocked over.

"Naruto! Calm down! The match hasn't even started yet.", scolded Sakura. She was excited and worried at the same time. She didn't know who she should be cheering for, not to mention that she also didn't fully approve of the match in the first place. Iruka's big brother tendencies earned him quite a bit of fondness from his students, and Sakura had also thought him an excellent instructor. But she also respected Kakashi-sensei's fighting skills and loyalty to his friends, and he could be a down right nice person when he wanted to be. Thus Sakura was having trouble deciding were her loyalties should lay.

Sasuke was his usual quiet self and calmly greeted Iruka. The fact he was there showed that he was interested, and that was enough. His main reason for being interested was that he wanted to see what kinds of attacks the two sensei's would use. Sasuke didn't really care which sensei won, and the logical part of his mind was telling him that Kakashi would probably win because he had more experience and stamina.

If Kakashi had challenged anyone else, Naruto would have cheered on his jounin-sensei. Since Iruka was his opponent though, it was only natural for him to cheer on his favorite chunin instructor.

"Are you sure you want to watch?" Iruka wasn't too keen on fighting with an audience. He hadn't done so since he took the chunin exam.

Naruto released Iruka and grinned up at him, "Of course we want to watch! I want to see you beat Kakashi-sensei!"

"Besides, you need someone to act as a judge and make sure the match is fair.", added Sakura.

"You make a good point Haruno-san.", replied Iruka. "Well, I guess you could consider it observational training then." Having said this they all settled back to wait for the arrival of the masked jounin.

They waited for ninety minutes before they saw the familiar cloud of smoke that signaled the arrival of the chronically late sensei, who appeared on the archway of the bridge.

"Yo! Hope you didn't wait long.", he said in a cheerful voice. He noticed his students and gave them a quizzical look, "What are you three doing here?"

"We're going to judge the match!", shouted Naruto.

Kakashi blinked before nodding, "Hm, guess it's alright. Should be a good experience at least." Kakashi disappeared from the arch way and reappeared next to Iruka. "We can use the training area outside the village, it's not being used by anyone else." Iruka consented to Kakashi's choice of location and the group made it's way to the training grounds.

They chose an open space in the training area for the match, but before starting Sakura thought it would be a good idea to go over the rules for the match.

"It's been decided that this will be a tai-jutsu match. The only weapons allowed are kunai and shuriken. Chakra may be used to strength the body. This is all correct?", inquired Sakura. The sensei's both nodded. "And the winner will be determined by the one who is first to strike two hits against their opponent?" They both nodded an affirmative. "Well, shouldn't you decide what counts as an actual hit?"

"Haruno-san has a good point, Kakashi-sensei.", responded Iruka. Kakashi took a moment to think about it.

He finally responded, "A hit will consist of any punch or kick that successfully makes direct contact without being blocked or dodged. Only hits above the belt count. The same goes for kunai and shuriken. However, a strike with a weapon has to draw blood in order to count." Iruka agreed to this, and they would have stood off if Sakura hadn't thought of something else.

"Naruto said that the winner would be able to get anything they want from the loser. Shouldn't you decide what that will be before you fight?" Sakura's main thought when asking this was to try and prevent Kakashi from asking Iruka to do something inappropriate. Iruka became thoughtful. He had been too worried about whether he could beat Kakashi or not, to think about what he would ask for if he won. He glanced at Kakashi and noticed that he was reading Makeout Violence. _That pervert_ thought Iruka as his eye twitched. Then he suddenly thought of what to ask for.

"Okay, there's two things I want if I am the winner of this match." Kakashi looked over the top of his book and quirked an eyebrow. "First, you have to buy your team ramen everyday for a month after training."

_Not much of a request, and its not even for himself either_ thought Kakashi. _Maybe I won't have to worry too much if he somehow manages to win,_ _although it is doubtful he will beat me. _Kakashi nodded to show that he agreed with the first request. _Hmm, with Naruto though, it might get a little expensive. Probably why he asked for it, so he can save some money._

"Secondly, I want you to stop reading those perverted books." Iruka smiled when he made this request.

Kakashi's jaw dropped in disbelief at what the chunin had just asked for. His mouth worked up and down for a bit as if he were trying to object, but he soon regained his composure and nodded his agreement. He couldn't let his guard down, especially if his reading privileges were at stake. The current story arc of Makeout Violence was getting really good and he wanted to finish it! He had to admit though, that he hadn't been expecting Iruka to be so bold.

"Kakashi-sensei, have you thought of what you want?" asked Sakura.

"Hmm.", was Kakashi's response. He brought a hand up to his chin and used the other one to support his elbow as if he were thinking very deeply. After a few minutes he dropped his hands to his sides and put them in his pockets as he gave them all a happy face and said, "I can't think of anything." They all face-faulted.

"Kakashi-sensei! Iruka said what he wanted, so you have to pick something too!", yelled Sakura. Inner Sakura was threatening to slow roast Kakashi over an open fire if he didn't hurry and make up his mind.

"Well, if you insist, then let's just say Iruka will owe me two really big favors." Kakashi congratulated himself at successfully avoiding making up his mind right then. He wanted to have plenty of time to decide what he should make Iruka do. Plus, it would be fun to tease Iruka and watch him worry. The look on Iruka's face as he agreed to Kakashi's request showed that he was already worried about it, and this made Kakashi grin. He was so looking forward to messing with Iruka's head afterwards.

"Well, I guess if everything's decided, then we should get this match started.", stated Sakura, who had taken it upon herself to act as referee. Kakashi and Iruka took up positions about three yards apart. Iruka crouched down into an aggressive attack stance, while Kakashi remained upright in a more relaxed stance. He even took out his book once again.

"I better read as much as I can now. You might get lucky and beat me.", Kakashi said in a placid tone.

Iruka tensed and tried to push his irritation down. His inner child and inner adult were fighting again. The adult voice was saying that Kakashi was just trying to get him to drop his guard, while the childish part of him said that the jounin wasn't taking him seriously.

_His stance is good_ thought Kakashi as he flipped a page. _It looks like he doesn't plan on holding back, judging by the look in his eyes. Guess I won't be_ _able to read._ With that thought in mind, Kakashi put his book away. He didn't change his stance however.

"Ganbatte! Iruka-sensei!", cried Naruto as he waved his arms up and down. Sasuke stayed silent and looked bored. He was wondering how much longer it would take for them to start. Sakura continued her role as referee down to the letter.

"This match is tai-jutsu with shuriken and kunai allowed. Chakra use is limited to strengthening of the body. The participants are Hatake Kakashi, jounin of Konoha village, versus Umnio Iruka, chunin of Konoha village. The winner will be declared as the first person to score two hits on their opponent." She paused. Everyone grew tense. This was it, it would start any second now.

"Begin!"

Iruka immediately threw four shurikens, two from each hand. He started running as soon as they were airborne. Kakashi easily dodged the shuriken and blocked the punch that Iruka had aimed at his stomach. Kakashi aimed a punch that would have landed on Iruka's shoulder if Iruka hadn't already dropped to the ground and tried to swipe Kakashi legs out from under him with a swift kick. Kakashi jumped to avoid the kick and brought his hands down on Iruka's shoulders. He flipped himself over Iruka's head and landed behind the chunin. Kakashi tried to score a kick to Iruka's head, but missed as Iruka laid himself flat and moved as soon as Kakashi's leg had passed over head to get out of kicking range. He turned to face the jounin and was meet by barrage of shuriken. Iruka managed to avoid all the shurikens except one which left a gash on one of his arms.

He ignored Sakura's cry of "One hit for Kakashi-sensei!" and rushed Kakashi. Kakashi caught Iruka's leg as the chunin tried to hit him with a round house kick, but failed to block the upper-cut that Iruka immediately followed up with while Kakashi still had a hold of his leg. It caught Kakashi in the mouth and sent him flying a few yards, before he landed on his back with a gasp. Iruka remained in place and resumed his starting stance. This wasn't a fight to the death between enemies, and while it would have been a good opportunity for him to score his second hit, Iruka wasn't the type to kick someone when they were down. Besides, if Iruka scored his second hit now, then the fight would be over, and he was starting to enjoy it to tell the truth. The fact that Kakashi was higher ranking and so skilled was giving him a thrill. He felt invigorated.

Sakura finally got over her amazement at what had just happened and called out, "One hit for Iruka-sensei!" Naruto danced with triumph and Sasuke had a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Iruka was holding is own, and it looked like he might even have a chance to win.

Kakashi's fall had knocked the wind out of him, so it took him a moment before he was able to regain his feet. He expected to be attacked again immediately, so he was surprised when nothing happened while he was regaining his breath. He saw Iruka standing a few yards away and waiting when he finally sat up. _He's as honorable as I've heard._ He smiled slightly, but it turned into a wince. He brought a hand up to his face and felt a slight dampness in the fabric around his mouth. He looked at his hand and saw a stain of red on his fingers. _Split lip._ "Heh, you throw one hell of a punch."

Iruka couldn't help smirking, "An academy instructor's bite can be just as bad as their bark."

Kakashi slowly got up from his sitting position on the ground. "Guess I better get my second hit in, or I'll lose my reading privileges." He took a more aggressive stance then he had first used. _His chakra use is perfect, like Sakura's. He's a straightforward attacker like Naruto but he executes his attacks_ _with precision like Sasuke. Skills like that are perfect for a teacher._ Kakashi was enjoying the fight. Iruka was skilled and didn't seem to let the fact that Kakashi was higher ranking stop him from giving the fight everything he had. Kakashi felt his respect for the chunin go up a notch.

_Looks like Kakashi's going to take things a little more seriously now. I better keep my guard up._, thought Iruka as he watched Kakashi. They waited a tense moment, and then Kakashi moved.

He moved so fast that Iruka barely had time to pull out two kunai to block the two that Kakashi tried to slash him with from behind. They remained with their kunai locked against each other until Kakahsi broke away only to lunge at Iruka again who once again blocked. Soon they were moving so fast that they were blurs. The three genin watched in awed silence, breath unconsciously held, waiting to see who would be the victor.

Iruka felt his body becoming fatigued from maintaining such a high speed. He didn't have enough chakra to strengthen his limbs anymore. Kakashi suddenly jumped back and threw his kunai, managing to catch Iruka off guard. Iruka was able to avoid the kunai, but not the kick that Kakashi had aimed at his side when he closed in after the kunai. Iruka went flying similar to the way Kakashi had earlier. The difference between the falls was that Iruka tried to land on his feet, but failed to do so and landed hard on his left leg.

"Winner, Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura didn't know whether she should be happy that Kakashi had won or upset that Iruka had lost, so she settled for both by congratulating Kakashi and then turning to check on Iruka who was still sitting were he had landed. Naruto was pouting because Iruka had lost. Sasuke was silent and seemed slightly worried for Iruka.

Iruka reassured his former students that he was alright and tried standing up to remove their doubts. He made it half way up before falling back down with an intake of breath from the sharp pain that went shooting up his leg. Naruto got very worried looking and Iruka tried to get up again to erase the look but ended up falling down again, which only worried Naruto even more.

"Better stay put. You might have broken your leg when you landed. Let me look." Kakashi had crouched down in front of Iruka, and seemed to have a slightly concerned look in his eye. He waited for Iruka to nod before gently probing the leg to check for fractures. "Hmm, it doesn't seem to be broken, just sprained." Iruka decided to take Kakashi's word for it. Kakashi had been in ANBU, so he probably had some sort of minor medical training.

Kakashi seemed to be thinking about something. _I'm too tired to perform a healing jutsu, and he won't be able to make it back to the village on his own. I_ _don't think Sasuke, Naruto, or Sakura can support his weight, so that only leaves one choice._ He moved to Iruka's left side and pulled one of the chunin's arm's over his shoulder's and held onto it. He wrapped his free arm around the chunin's waist and lifted him up into a standing position. Iruka gritted his teeth so as not to groan at the pain in his leg. Iruka's shorter height forced Kakashi to stoop a bit so that the shorter man wouldn't have to stand on tip-toe.

Kakashi ignored Iruka's protests as he turned to speak to his three worried students. "I'll take him home and see to his injuries so there's no need to worry."

"Kakashi-sensei, you don't need to trouble yourse-", Kakashi interrupted Iruka, "Yes I do. You're a shinobi of Konoha village, which makes you my comrade. I always look after my comrades, especially if I'm the reason the comrade is injured in the first place." He then added with his happy face, "Besides, you gave me a fun fight." Iruka blinked, and then smiled with a nod.

"It was fun for me too."

With that they headed back to the village. After entering the gate, Naruto suddenly stopped in his tracks as if something had just occurred to him. He spun around and pointed a finger at a puzzled Kakashi and Iruka, "You better not make Iruka-sensei do anything perverted!"

Kakashi suddenly remembered that Iruka owed him two favors, and at the thought of making Iruka do something perverted, his mind shut down. A very hentai image entered his mind, and when it did, he mentally slapped himself. _I barely know him! And he's a GUY! I don't swing that way!…….Do I?_ Kakashi had to ask himself that question because he had never had time to think about it. He was six when he became a shinobi, there wasn't really time for him decide what his preference was. He wasn't able to further pursue this line of thought due to the fact that he suddenly felt a very icy chill going done his spine. The source of the chill being the cold stares of his three students. The combined strength of that stare could have frozen a lake solid right down to the bottom. Kakashi collected his thoughts and finally responded, actually managing to sound indigent, "What kind of person do you think I am!"

"One who always shows up late and lies about why he showed up late," started Sakura.

"Who reads perverted books all the time and has a technique called a Thousand Years of Pain," continued Naruto.

"And makes a nuisance of himself to others when he's bored, and let's not forget your annoying face mask.", finished Sasuke.

Kakashi just sweat dropped. _They know me too well._ He sighed and then said, "I promise not to do anything perverted to him."

After further reassurances, his students finally went their separate ways and headed towards their respective homes. Kakashi glanced at Iruka who had been silent during the whole exchange. Iruka was giving him a narrow eyed look.

"You weren't seriously considering making me do anything like that, were you?" asked Iruka suspiciously. He wouldn't put anything past someone as notoriously perverted as Kakashi.

"Mmm, maybe." To tell the truth he hadn't thought about it until Naruto mentioned it, but he wasn't going to say that. He wanted to tease Iruka. "I could have thought of a lot of fun things to do, but since I promised not to, we won't get to try any of them." Iruka turned red and stared at the ground. He wished he didn't need Kakashi's help to get home because right at that moment he was starting to feel uncomfortable and embarrassed at how close they were standing.

Kakashi grinned and said, "Guess we better get you home, or I'll have to explain to Hokage why you can't work tomorrow, and the looks those three were giving me were kind of creepy." The word 'work' made Iruka remember the papers he still had to grade that were at the academy. He mentioned them to Kakashi who thought about it for a moment.

"Why don't I get you home first, and then I'll go pick up those papers and bring them home for you?" Iruka's fatigue was starting to catch up with him. He felt to tired too object so he graciously agreed to Kakashi's suggestion.

Having settled that, they finally started towards Iruka's home.

* * *

Thanks for your review Evil Kasumi, I like Midnight Confessions.

Thanks to Lady Guena for reviewing and that little Iruka tidbit. I didn't know he had completed 11 A-class missions. Makes me feel better about letting Iruka send Kakashi flying.

Thanks again to everyone else who reviewed.

I apologize to everyone who wanted to see Iruka win, but I had to have Kakashi win in order for some of my future ideas to work.

Jaa ne!


	3. Medicine and school papers

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Naruto is a creation of Masashi Kishamoto-sensei.

**Note: **This chapter was edited on May 26, 2006. Some previous content that came before and after the chapter may have been removed or replaced.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?**

Chapter three-Medicine and school papers

By Riyo-sama

Iruka was thankful for the fact that hardly anyone was out on the street as Kakashi walked him home. He didn't want to explain to anyone why Kakashi was half carrying him. The thrill he had gotten from the fight was wearing off, and he was slowly starting to feel more and more embarrassed about the whole thing, not only because he had lost the fight and Kakashi was helping him get home, but also because he had childishly given into his pride. Surprisingly though, he couldn't bring himself to feel irritated or bitter towards Kakashi.

They arrived at Iruka's one level house without incident, and Iruka pulled the key out of his pocket while Kakashi continued to support him. After Iruka somewhat clumsily unlocked and opened the door, Kakashi walked him into the living room and helped him lay down on the couch. After stretching out his back which made a few popping sounds, Kakashi removed Iruka's foot ware and went to put it by the door along with his own. Without a word he returned and started removing his leg bindings.

Iruka felt a slight bit of relief when the bindings came off. The sprain had caused swelling in the leg, and this had made the tight bindings feel painfully tighter.

Kakashi checked the leg again more carefully to make sure that it was indeed just a sprain and not a hairline fracture. He then went to Iruka's arm which had been cut and rolled up the sleeve in order to bandage it more easily. The wound was shallow and had stopped bleeding already. Kakashi cleaned the cut carefully so it wouldn't open again and wrapped it in bandages from his pouch.

Kakashi was in his injury-repair mode, so he didn't say a single word, and if Iruka had tried to say anything he probably would have been ignored. As it was though, Iruka didn't say anything or even try moving for that matter. Iruka was struggling to stay awake. It had taken almost every ounce of energy he possessed to keep up with Kakashi, and he knew that Kakashi wasn't even going at his full speed. He knew that if it had been an all out battle that he would have been in even worse shape than he was. He was thankful he hadn't had to face the sharingan eye. Before Kakashi had finished with bandaging his arm, Iruka gave into fatigue and closed his eyes, soon going into a restful sleep.

Kakashi didn't notice that his patient was asleep until he had finished securely tying the bandages. Kakashi blinked. _He really gave that fight his all I guess. _Kakashi studied his peaceful face for a moment. …_, he looks kind of cute when he's asleep. _Immediately after having this thought Kakashi furiously shook his head, causing his spiky hair to flare up and sending pain which he ignored through his jaw. _Did I just think that Iruka was CUTE?_

Desperate to distract himself from the thoughts he was having about his fellow male shinobi, he went into the kitchen to get some ice for Iruka's leg to bring the swelling down. He propped the leg up with a pillow and placed the ice over the leg carefully.

Kakashi stood for a moment after having done this, trying to decide what to do next. He then remembered the school papers.

It didn't take him long to fetch them. Iruka's house was within easy walking distance of the academy. Kakashi found Iruka just as he had left him, asleep, breath slow and even. He set the papers on the long table in front of the couch, and being unable to think of anything else to do at the moment, decided to inspect his surroundings.

Two armchairs sat to either side of the couch. A bookcase stood behind the couch, neatly packed with books of a mostly educational nature, with a few fictional books here and there. A table with three framed photographs standing on it stood next to the bookcase, and there were photo's hanging on the wall over the table as well. Kakashi came around the couch to get a better look at the pictures.

He scanned the photos on the wall first, none really holding his interest as they all seemed to be of former students and one that seemed to be of Iruka's team mates and jounin-sensei. He turned to the first photograph on the table which was of Naruto and Iruka. Naruto had his eye's squinted shut and a big toothy grin plastered on his face, his arms crossed with his hands giving off peace signs. Iruka was standing behind Naruto with his hands on the blonde genins shoulders, a huge smile on his own face and his brown eyes glowing with warmth. The happiness displayed in the picture made Kakashi feel warm and fuzzy inside.

The next photo was familiar to Kakashi and it made him grin with amusement to find it in Iruka's house. Kakashi was crouched down behind his team with each of his hands placed on Naruto and Sasuke's heads and his characteristic happy face in place. Sasuke and Naruto didn't look thrilled to be having a picture taken together, and Sakura was sitting in front, blushing and beaming. _Naruto must have given him a copy._

The last photo was of a woman, man, and what Kakashi thought to be a little girl. The woman was a slender and pale beauty with long dark hair and gray eyes. Her mouth was set in a gentle smile. The man was stern looking with strong facial features and dark brown hair and light brown eyes. His eyes shone with hidden emotion. Kakashi looked to the little girl last. She had dark brown hair and light brown eyes like the man, but resembled the woman in facial features. A scar went across her nose…….

Kakashi had to slap a hand over his mouth to stop the laughter that threatened to spill out of him. The 'little girl' was actually a little Iruka! He must have been about five or six years old and was wearing a dark blue kimono with a black sash and his hair was down. He had a happy smile on his face. _Guess it's true that boys look like their mothers and girls look like their fathers, _thought Kakashi as he shook with suppressed laughter. Kakashi regained his composure and checked to make sure he hadn't awoken Iruka.

Iruka was still sound asleep, and Kakashi took another chance to observe him. Iruka didn't look like a girl anymore, but there was just the slightest hint of femininity to his features. Kakashi could tell that he probably did a lot of tai-jutsu training, so he was probably more well built than his slender appearance suggested. _He's good looking by anyone's standards. _When Kakashi realized what he was thinking, he scowled and resolutely whipped around so that he wouldn't be facing the sleeping sensei.

Kakashi decided to check out the rooms that the hallway led to. Kakashi justified the fact that he was deliberately investigating Iruka's home without permission by telling himself that a good shinobi should always know where all the best defensive positions and escape routes were. Kakashi was inquisitive by nature, and was used to coming up with excuses for the actions that resulted from this inquisitiveness.

There were two doors on the right and two doors on the left, as well as a door at the end of the hall. Kakashi decided to go clockwise and started with the first door on the right. This door lead to what he guessed was Iruka's bedroom by the bed and open closet full of uniforms.

The next room proved to be another bedroom. However, it was apparent that this bedroom hadn't been used in quiet a long time despite the evidence that it was cleaned on a regular basis. There was absolutely no sign that anyone was currently inhabiting the room.

When he opened the door at the end of the hall he found a traditional Japanese bath with separate shower and bath facilitates.

The next door on the left was some sort of storage room, with shelves full of boxes, extra blankets, and various other odd items. _Very odd items_, Kakashi thought as he briefly stared at a full suit of rusted samurai armor. He made a mental note to himself to ask Iruka what was up with the suit of armor, but he scratched it out when he remembered that he would have to tell Iruka that he had snooped. No good shinobi got caught snooping if he could help it. He decided to wait until he knew Iruka better and had an excuse to look in the storage room to ask.

_Wait a minute. When did I decide that we would get to now each other better? _Kakashi asked himself. His subconscious answered for him.

_When you challenged him to a fight of course._

_Okay, but why do I want to get to now him better?_

_Because you're a very, very lonely man, even though you won't admit it. You want a friend._

………_, what about my team? And there is Kunrei, Asuma, and Gai._

_You want someone who is normal for a friend._

_But there's nothing normal about a shinobi._

_He's normal compared to most shinobi, especially when compared to the ones that you consider friends. Plus, he's not a twelve year old._

_You make a good point._

_Of course I do, I'm you after all. _Having finished his little conversation with himself, he left the storage room.

Upon opening the last door Kakashi found himself in a large study. The wall the door was set in and the opposite wall had display cases full of weapons. There were katanas, kodachis, wakazashis, kunai's of various sizes and makes, sebon, and shurikens. The largest case even had a nagitana. The walls above the display cases had an assortment of maps, body charts that showed various body systems (many involving chakra functions), and a variety of shinobi sayings. Kakashi was surprised to see a chart with detailed information on the sharingan eye among the body charts. It was completely hand written, and the diagrams appeared to be hand sketched as well. Kakashi studied it for a moment. _Wonder who made it?_

The other two walls were lined with bookcases full of scrolls of various sizes, neatly stacked and ordered. One bookcase seemed to be entirely filled with textbooks on jutsu's, weapons, chakra, fighting styles and strategies, and Konoha history. A large desk with a chair on either side and work spaces for two people stood in the middle of the study.

Having concluded his investigation, Kakashi returned to the living room. He was trying to decide what to do next when his stomach demandingly growled at him. He blushed a bit, and was thankful that the only other person in the room was a sleep and didn't seem to hear his very loud stomach. _I guess that decided what I'm going to do next._ He then went into the kitchen to make some coffee and find something that he could easily make to eat. He'd wake Iruka up when he had the food ready.

* * *

Iruka woke up from a dream in which Naruto and Kakashi were battling it out over a bowl of ramen the size of the Hokage monuments. Iruka sat up and winced at the pain in his leg. He hazily remembered that he had fought with Kakashi, and afterwards Kakashi had helped him home. He fingered the bandages on his arm and wondered where Kakashi had gotten to since he was apparently not in the room. He noticed the bag of ice on his leg and the papers on the table, and then wondered what the time was. The clock next to the kitchen entrance read 9:00 P.M.

At that moment, Kakashi came from the kitchen with two steaming mugs in his hands. When he saw Iruka awake he asked with an amused glint in his eye, "Did you have a nice nap?" Iruka blushed and would have said something if Kakashi hadn't placed a mug of hot steaming coffee in his hands. Iruka immediately had all his attention on the hot, fragrant liquid that he considered the most heavenly beverage on earth. He inhaled the wonderful scent of coffee deeply before carefully sipping the invigorating beverage. _Kakashi makes good coffee. _noted Iruka as he happily started taking larger sips of the coffee.

Kakashi watched him amusedly before returning to the kitchen and coming back with two bowls of pork ramen. Iruka gratefully accepted the bowl Kakashi offered him. He had noticed that he was ravenously hungry as soon as he tasted the coffee. Despite his hunger though he forced himself to eat slowly so as to not look sloppy in front of Kakashi. Kakashi sat in the armchair that was behind Iruka's head and out of his line of vision.

They both ate in silence. When Iruka was finished he carefully placed his bowl on the table without turning his head. He wanted to see what Kakashi looked like under his mask just like everyone else did, but Iruka wasn't going to be rude by trying to sneak peeks at the man while he was eating. Kakashi probably had a personal reason for not wanting anyone to see his face. Iruka started to slowly sip his coffee again, once again noting that it was really quiet good.

Kakashi noted Iruka's little effort to give him some privacy while he ate with amusement. Iruka really was a good person like he had heard so many people say. When he finally finished his own ramen and coffee, he took the empty bowls and mugs back into the kitchen. He broke the silence when he returned by saying, "Let's take another look at that leg now." Suiting action to word, he knelt down and removed the ice pack. The swelling had gone down and the leg wasn't twice it's normal size anymore. Kakashi felt rested now, so he decided that he could go ahead and use a healing jutsu. Kakashi took off a glove and placed his hand on Iruka's leg. He started performing seals with the still gloved hand and chakra started to gather in the hand on the leg. With the last seal, the chakra started to flow into the leg. Iruka felt the pain in his leg subside and the remaining swelling go down. When the leg looked normal again and Kakashi felt that it was healed enough, he released the chakra remaining in his hand and let it slowly disperse before standing up and replacing his glove.

Iruka slowly sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the couch. He flexed the muscles in his legs. They didn't hurt, but there was a slight resistance in them.

"So how does it feel now?" inquired Kakashi.

"A little stiff, but I'll manage." replied Iruka. It was then that Iruka noticed that Kakashi's mask still had a blood stain on it. "Kakashi-sensei, how's your jaw?" asked Iruka with a look of concern.

Kakashi was suddenly reminded of the upper-cut he received from Iruka and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Ehh, I guess I forgot about that." A smile twitched at Iruka's lips while he shook his head at Kakashi.

"You should go wash your face. There's some ointment under the bathroom sink that I recommend you use. I'm sure you have already looked around the house so you can find the bathroom on your own." Having said that, Iruka picked up the papers on the table and stood up.

"How did you know I looked around?" asked Kakashi. He was sure Iruka had been asleep when he performed his self appointed little investigation.

Iruka gave Kakashi an amused grin, "Every good shinobi checks for defensive positions and escape routes, correct?" He added with a teasing note to his voice, "Besides, you have a reputation for being the most inquisitive shinobi in Konoha."

Kakashi blinked at Iruka's bluntness before chuckling lightly. "Looks like you got me."

Iruka smiled again and then slowly limped his way past Kakashi to the hallway. Kakashi waited till Iruka had disappeared into the hallway before following. He saw the light in the study on and the door slightly open. Kakashi paused at the opening long enough to see Iruka take a seat at the desk and take out some writing utensils in order to start grading the papers. Kakashi continued his way to the bathroom and slid the door open (all the doors in Iruka's house except for the front door were sliding rice paper doors. The kitchen was an open entrance with a curtain hanging across.). After entering he made sure the door was securely closed before moving to the sink and mirror.

He removed his gloves first, and then slowly peeled off his mask. His chin was covered in dried blood, and there was a dark stain on his mask. He proceeded to wash his face with warm water and soap, slightly wincing at the sting in the large split on his now puffy lip. Kakashi took a minute to examine the damage before doing anything else once his face was clean and dry. An ugly bruise contrasted darkly with the pale skin surrounding his chin. Eating had been painful, and now he knew why. _It's a wonder my jaw works at all._

He looked in the cabinet under the sink and found a green glass jar marked 'For bruises, cuts, burns, and stress.' Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the 'stress' part, but decided to trust Iruka and give it a try. Kakashi removed the lid, and was immediately assailed by the pungent smell of herbs. The smell was wholesome and Kakashi felt some of the tension go out of his body, tension he didn't even now was there. He took a small dab and started to gently rub it into the bruise, and then his split lip. The pain had disappeared by the time he finished and put away the ointment. He could move his jaw more freely know. _I wonder were he got a medicine like that? He's sure got quiet a few interesting things in his house. _

Kakashi looked at his blood stained mask. He could wash it now and wear a damp mask until he got home to his apartment, or he could leave it be and deal with it when he got home. However, if he left it until later, it would be harder to clean.

He decided to clean it. It took him fifteen minutes to get all the soaked in blood out. Kakashi hadn't thought that the material of his mask was that absorbent. When he finished washing and rinsing the blood away he thoroughly squeezed out as much moisture as possible. When he was satisfied that it was as dry as he could get it, he put it back on along with his gloves.

He exited the bathroom and walked back to the study. Iruka was still sitting at the desk, a tiny pile of graded papers sat next to the larger stack of papers that had yet to be graded. Kakashi went further down the hall to were the clock was and checked the time. 10:30 P.M. He looked back to the lit up door. He came to a decision and went into the kitchen.

* * *

Iruka was struggling to stay awake. He had to get these papers done tonight. He couldn't concentrate though. He put his head down on the desk and sighed. He didn't notice that he wasn't alone anymore until a mug was placed in front of him. He looked up to see Kakashi with an amused face and his own mug in hand. "You looked so dedicated that I thought I better come give you a hand. But then here I find you ready to give up and fall asleep." Kakashi teased.

Iruka blushed a bit. "I was just resting for a minute. I wasn't going to do it too long."

_He looks cute when he blushes. Gaahh! Why do I keep thinking these thoughts? _He pushed the thought away and watched as Iruka's blush faded and he took a swallow of coffee.

Iruka looked at Kakashi over his coffee mug and smiled, "You know, you make really good coffee."

Kakashi mentally threw shurikens at the thought that tried to get to the front of his mind. _He has a cute smile. _He decided to stop fighting the 'cute' thoughts that kept popping up in his head. He would just have to sort out the reasons for why he was having them later. It would be less stressing if he just let himself have them. Trying to stop them just wasn't working anyways.

Finally regaining his composure he managed to reply to a puzzled Iruka, who was wondering what had caused Kakashi to zone out, "Arigatou. It's not that great though. I've had coffee that tasted better than mine."

"Mmm, no, its good, trust me."

"If you say so." Kakashi then reached over and before Iruka could stop him picked up the stack of papers. He divided it in half, handed one stack to Iruka, and walked around to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk.

"Kakashi-sensei, its late and I'm sure your tie-", Kakashi waved Iruka's protest off as he searched for and found a writing utensil to grade his stack of papers with.

"I'm not tired at all." and then adding in a teasing voice, "If I leave you alone you'll fall asleep again."

"I wasn't sleeping!" Iruka tried to glare but ended up pouting instead.

_Why is he so adorable for a grown man? Why do I find him so adorable? _wondered Kakashi mournfully, before he started reading and grading the papers in front of him.

Iruka watched Kakashi for a minute before starting on his own stack. He noticed that Kakashi's mask was clean now. The dampness made it cling to Kakashi's face even more, showing the outline of his facial features more sharply. _I wonder if Kakashi is good looking? _Iruka blushed at this thought. _This isn't something I should be wondering about my superior. Especially since it's a guy. And Kakashi of all people!_ He bent over his stack of papers and got to work while still blushing.

At around 11:30, they finally finished. Iruka shuffled the papers together before picking up the coffee mugs and heading out of the study into the kitchen. Kakashi followed after turning out the light. He reached the entrance to the kitchen just as Iruka came out.

"Domo arigatou gozaimasu Kakashi-sensei for all your help." said Iruka as he gave a slight bow.

"Ah, no problem. I was the reason you needed help in the first place remember? Don't forget that you owe me to two favors." Iruka pouted adorably at this and Kakashi decided it was time to go before he said something out loud. "Well I better go home now." Kakashi wished Iruka a good night and was out the door so quickly that Iruka barely had time to say good night in return.

Iruka sighed as he wondered what had gotten Kakashi into such a hurry so suddenly. Sure it was late, but that didn't explain why Kakashi had practically ran out the door. Deciding that Kakashi was just unfathomable, he went into his bedroom and started to remove the rest of his outer gear. Not bothering to change out of the pants and shirt from his uniform, he flopped down on his bed and yawned.

What had started out as a quiet Sunday had ended up being an exciting and tiring day. He smiled a bit and said out loud, "Kakashi-sensei, your way of spending a day off may be more exciting, but it does use up a lot of energy." He was surprised though. Kakashi had actually been very kind and considerate when he was injured, and he even stayed and helped him with the paperwork after his leg was healed.

He had enjoyed the his company too. He had thought that the Kakashi would annoy him to no end, but was surprised to find that the his teasing didn't really bother him that much. _It would be nice if we could be friends, but he probably wouldn't want to be friends with a lowly chunin…..It would still be nice though. _Iruka didn't have many friends his own age, and Kakashi was only a few years older. There was Naruto, but he was starting to make friends his own age now. _It would be nice to become friends… _thought Iruka as he finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Thanks to the following readers for reviewing: Iceheart19, saria almasy albotou kinneas, Lady Geuna, Evil Kasumi, Isolde1, MoonSweet, dokidoki, Game-kid 17, SirenM, Sadistic Demon, hotaruchan27, RukaIayLomperGay, and KakashiLvr.

Jaa ne!


	4. Stray cats and crushes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Naruto is a creation of Masashi Kishamoto-sensei.

**Note: **This chapter was edited on May 26, 2006. Some previous content that may have come before and after the chapter may have been removed or replaced.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?**

Chapter four-Stray cats and crushes

By Riyo-sama

Kakashi didn't slow his quick pace until Iruka's house was out of sight. He slowed down to a casual stroll, mind floating and not concentrating on anything except his feet which were carrying him towards his apartment.

It was midnight by the time Kakashi collapsed onto his bed. He let out a deep sigh and stared at the ceiling.

_Why was I getting so embarrassed? _It shouldn't have bothered him so much to find Iruka cute. He found lots of other people cute besides Iruka.

At this point Kakashi's subconscious decided it was time for another little chat. 'So who else do you find cute?'

Kakashi: 'Um, Naruto?'

Subconscious: 'Naruto is cute. In a puppy dog kind of way. He's a kid and your student though.'

Kakashi: 'Uh, Sakura?'

Subconscious: 'Student again. Plus, she's a young, pink haired girl. Of course you think she's cute!'

Kakashi: 'Sasuke?'

Subconscious: '……………………., he's only cute when he's not acting like a cold jerk and does something nice for Naruto or Sakura, which is hardly ever.'

Kakashi: '……………., my nin-dogs?'

Subconscious: 'We are talking about people, not animals.'

Kakashi: 'Well that's all I got.'

Subconscious: 'Okay, fine. So how is the way you find Iruka cute different from the way you find your students and dogs cute?'

Kakashi: 'If I knew, then I wouldn't be talking to myself, would I?'

Subconscious: '………., if you can't figure it out on your own, then I'm not going to tell you.'

_What? That's so cheap! _Kakashi silently yelled as his subconscious went silent. Kakashi growled in frustration and turned on to his side. Maybe he should just try getting to know Iruka better? Then he could figure out these thoughts.

"What will be, will be." stated Kakashi, before immediately going out like a light.

* * *

The alarm went off at 5:30 A.M., and a tan hand landed heavily on the off switch.

Ever so slowly, Iruka sat up and then stood up from the bed. The cracking noise his stiff body made as he stretched his back seemed to wake him up more as he finally opened his eyes.

He performed his usual morning rituals before eating a hasty breakfast. He was out the door by 6:30 and heading for the academy with the papers from last night in hand.

_Let's see. I need to make the lesson plan for today, and I also need to make preparations for the Kawamiri no jutsu test. _This was the performance test, which meant no paper work for Iruka after class was finished. Iruka was relieved by this, because he had to work in the mission room today and that meant he would be filing mission reports for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

By 7:55 he had planned the lessons for the day and prepared a list of all the students taking the test. He also organized the papers to be handed back in alphabetical order and recorded the grades in his grade book.

Students started to trickle in as he wrote the days schedule on the blackboard. He took attendance at 8:00, and started class five minutes later.

* * *

Kakashi meet his team at 8:00 A.M., which was two hours late instead of his usual three hours. Naruto and Sakura yelled the usual "You're late!", and then "Liar!" when he tried to give a lame excuse for why he was late before Sakura commented on the fact that it was early (for Kakashi).

Naruto said that it was a bad sign and that it would probably rain. Sakura bopped Naruto on the head and said it was a good sign because it meant they were that much closer to having a punctual sensei.

Sasuke didn't say anything because late was late in his opinion. He did wonder why Kakashi had chosen that day to show up sooner than usual though.

* * *

(Earlier that morning at 5:00 A.M.)

Kakashi opened his eyes, looked at the clock, and shut them again. Why did his body always tell him to wake up so early when he never even set the alarm?

Sighing in defeat after about ten minutes of trying to go back to sleep, he got up and made his way to the bathroom.

Freshly showered and dressed in a clean uniform, Kakashi went into his kitchen and searched his cupboards for some cereal. After finishing his bowl of crunchy and overly sweetened fiber, Kakashi left his apartment at 5:45 and set a course for the memorial stone.

After he finished paying his respects, he started to head for the middle of town via rooftop. Kakashi had decided that they should meet somewhere different for a change of pace. He was halfway there when he realized he was only an hour late, which meant they wouldn't be expecting him for another two hours.

He sat down cross legged on the roof which he had just landed and crossed his arms over his chest, a look of concentration on his face. He had to decide how best to approach the problem of getting to now Iruka. The simplest and most fuss free solution would be to tell him straight out that he wanted to be friends, but that seemed a bit childish. He spent the next hour trying to think of an alternative, and in the end decided to go with the simple solution. He just hoped he could pull it off with more tact then just saying 'Will you be my friend?'. He didn't want to sound desperate. He had his pride after all.

He headed off to meet his students once he had decided on his course of action, not really caring that it was still an hour earlier then when he usually showed up.

* * *

(Back to the present moment.)

"Sensei, you took care of Iruka-sensei's injuries last night, correct?" Sasuke asked calmly.

Naruto and Sakura stopped bickering and both turned expectant stares towards Kakashi. Kakashi raised his hands up in a defensive gesture, "Don't worry, I healed his sprain myself with a jutsu. He was up and about when I left him." Naruto still looked doubtful. He wouldn't feel better until he saw that Iruka was okay for himself.

_Naruto acts like a little brother who's worrying about his big brother. _He couldn't help thinking that it was cute. This lead to him remembering that he had thought that Iruka's smile was cute. _I wonder if it's okay to think that it's cute when your potentially new male friend smiles?_

Naruto was cute in a puppy dog way, it was true. But Iruka was cute for a different reason. Kakashi just couldn't seem to figure out why. He looked up and absently scratched at his chin.

"We could go see him after classes let out." Kakashi offered, not just to relieve Naruto, but also because he wanted to initiate mission: Make Friends With Iruka.

Naruto's eyes lit up as he gave a happy yell, "Yaaay! Let's get all our missions done right now! We have to get there as soon as classes let out."

Kakashi chuckled and pulled a list from one of his vest pockets, "Well then, today we have two lost cats, four gardens, three dogs to walk, and………….."

* * *

"Congratulations to everyone who passed the test." Iruka got a few smiles from the students who had passed. "As for those of you who failed," there were sighs and groans at this remark, "you will have a second chance in two weeks. I suggest you use that time to improve and remedy your mistakes. If you need any help, please come to me and I will see about setting up some review lessons." Several students look relieved at this news. Iruka wanted to avoid holding anyone back like Naruto had been, so he had started giving more second chances like he was doing today.

He picked up the stack of papers on the corner of his desk. "I have graded your hand seal essays from last week. When I call your name, you may come up front to retrieve it and then you may leave." Iruka started calling off names, and one by one students started to come up front. Some students smiled at Iruka after seeing their grade, and others groaned in dismay.

When the last child left, Iruka set about straightening the classroom. He pushed in chairs, threw away crumpled papers, and collected forgotten items which he placed in his desk for safe keeping until their proper owners asked for them again the next day.

He finished his cleaning and grabbed some things off his desk which he stuffed in the pockets of his vest before moving to the door. He was just about to reach out his hand to the door when it was yanked open from the outside to reveal a flushed and excited Naruto (he ran all the way there as soon as they finished their last mission).

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted before latching onto his favorite teacher's waist. He stared straight up at Iruka. "Is your leg really alright?"

Iruka gave a short laugh before answering, "It most certainly is, Kakashi-sensei healed it." Iruka said this while maneuvering out of the classroom and into the hallway, and then shutting the door, all the while with Naruto still attached to him.

"So it's really alright, it doesn't hurt?" More than anything in the world, Naruto didn't want Iruka to feel any pain, because he was so kind to him.

"It's perfectly fine, I'm walking around aren't I?"

Naruto beamed up at him in happiness upon hearing this news. Iruka smiled down at Naruto and ruffled his hair, "Thank you for worrying about me Naruto."

"Awww, what a sweet scene. It's like you're really brother's."

Iruka looked up and Naruto tilted his head back all the way so that he could see behind without letting go of Iruka. There stood Kakashi with a happy look on his face (seeing the way Iruka and Naruto interacted just gave him the warm and fuzzies), Sakura was blushing (she had actually found Naruto's concern for Iruka cute), and Sasuke who was silently brooding (seeing Naruto and Iruka reminded him of things he would rather forget). They had come at a much slower pace than Naruto, and came just as Iruka stepped into the hallway.

"These three were worried, so I brought them to see you." said Kakashi with his happy face still in place.

Iruka carefully detached Naruto from his waist before turning his smile towards the other three. "Arigatou Kakashi-sensei for bringing them. Arigatou for your concern Haruno-san, Uchiha-san. As I told Naruto, I'm perfectly fine."

Sakura was glad and Sasuke stopped brooding.

"Iruka-sensei, we get paid today, so can I treat you to ramen later?" asked Naruto excitedly. He loved the fact that he could now afford to treat Iruka, instead of having Iruka treat him.

Iruka nodded his approval, "Sure. I have to work in the mission room today though, so can you wait until 7:00?"

"Yeah!", Naruto shouted enthusiastically. Naruto was happiest when eating ramen with Iruka.

They left the academy and the three genins bid the two senseis good afternoon. Iruka waved them off before turning to Kakashi who was still standing next to him. "Kakashi-sensei, is your jaw doing alright now?"

"Ah, its alright, it doesn't even hurt anymore. That ointment you let me use helped a lot. I was actually wondering where you managed to get a hold of such an effective medicine."

Iruka smiled, "Actually, I made it."

"Really? It was almost as good or better than what the ANBU medics carry, so how did you come by the formula?" This was a bit of a surprise. Iruka was a chunin, so he shouldn't have been able to produce a medicine that could accelerate healing that well. The bruise on Kakashi's jaw had already started to fade.

"Huh? Is it really that good? I just used the knowledge of herbs that my mother taught me when I was younger. She was a bit of a horticulturist. When I became a chunin, I noticed that the medicines available weren't' always up to the job, and I thought that it would be a good idea to make my own. One that could help with various injuries, relieve pain, and accelerate healing much better than what was currently available."

Iruka gave slightly rueful smile, "I tested all my experiments on myself, and one time I ended up in the hospital because I accidentally mixed a poisonous plant in with the medicinal ones. It was worth it in the end though. I ended up with a ointment that heals bruises, cuts, burns, and even relieves stress." No one really knew about his little accomplishment except Naruto, who he had ended up using it on a lot. That a jounin like Kakashi thought it was as good or better than what the ANBU carried made him feel good.

Kakashi had his head tilted to the side, and he was giving Iruka an evaluating look, as if he were weighing up everything he knew about Iruka before making some final decision. He seemed to come to a final assessment, and finally spoke.

"You're really something, you know that? You care for all of your students, your shinobi skills are just about as good as any jounin's, you're a very hard worker, you seem to be really smart, you're reliable, you make your own medicine, and you're rather modest." Iruka was blushing by the time Kakashi finished. He had heard that kind of praise before, but not all at once and in such a straight forward manner. And for some reason, hearing Kakashi say it made him all the more happy and embarrassed. He somehow managed to stammer out a thank you before Kakashi continued.

"I admire those things in you, which is why I would like for us to be friends." There, he had said it, and although he was worried about Iruka's response, he couldn't help feeling pleased with himself.

"What?" Iruka wasn't sure if he had heard right.

"I would like it if we could be friends." repeated Kakashi.

He did hear right. It only took him a split second to break into a smile and offer Kakashi his hand. "I'd like that too." And just last night he had thought it impossible for Kakashi to consider him even worth making friends with.

Kakashi happily took Iruka's hand and shook it. _Mission: Make Friends With Iruka, success! _Kakashi was really happy. He truly had decided that Iruka was admirable, especially when compared to his self.

"Well," said Kakashi as he let go of Iruka's hand, "I guess my first job as your new friend will be to walk with you to the mission room. I have to hand in today's mission report too. Naruto will be disappointed if you're late for ramen because of mission reports, so I'll help you out this once."

"And it'll be nice to get your mission report in on time this once as well." replied Iruka. He could swear that Kakashi stuck his tongue out at him under his mask after he said it.

They were both content to remain silent as they walked away from the academy and towards the building in which the mission room resided. Kakashi was happy to have accomplished his self appointed mission, and Iruka couldn't help thinking, _This should be the start of something interesting._

* * *

(Three weeks later…….)

"How did you end up being in charge of such a boring task?" asked Kakashi as he sat in a chair next to Iruka and helped him sort mission reports. He wasn't doing it because he wanted to. He had decided that working in the mission room just wasn't his cup of tea after he helped Iruka the first time. He couldn't understand how Iruka could stand all that paperwork on top of teaching. Not only that, he then went and helped the Hokage as his personal assistant! How the hell did he do it?

His reason for helping this time was because Iruka had bribed him. His apartment was currently bare of anything remotely edible except bread and coffee, and he couldn't go grocery shopping untill tomorrow. When Iruka had said he would make him dinner if he helped with the reports, he caved in right away. He never said no to free food.

"Well, there wasn't really anyone else to do it. I don't mind too much. It's only really bad if there's as much to do as there is tonight. It goes by a lot faster though when you have someone to keep you company." Iruka flashed Kakashi a smile. He was surprised when Kakashi agreed to help him with the paperwork. The dinner bribe had actually been a joke, but Iruka wasn't going to say that since he really needed the help. He wouldn't mind having company for dinner either.

Kakashi returned Iruka's smile with a happy face before turning his attention back to the work at hand. In the last three weeks, Kakashi had found more and more things about Iruka which he thought were cute, and in the end came to the conclusion that Iruka in general was just cute. Kakashi had stopped fighting the fact that he thought of Iruka that way. He still chose to ignore the little suggestions his subconscious continually whispered at him for why he had those thoughts though.

What he did know was that he found Iruka's presence to be refreshing and calming. He could relax around him. Iruka didn't try prying into his past, and he never tried to peek at his face. Kakashi felt happy around Iruka.

Iruka had been happier in the last three weeks than he had been in a very long time. His last close friend had been Mizuki. Mizuki had been a pretty good friend, but there was always the sense that he felt superior to Iruka. He seemed to think that he was doing Iruka a favor by being friends with him.

Kakashi on the other hand never treated Iruka as an inferior, despite the fact that he was ranked higher than him. He always treated Iruka with respect, even when he was relentlessly teasing him. It wasn't a cruel sort of teasing, he simply seemed to enjoy making Iruka blush. After he got used to the teasing, he managed to make some witty comebacks. He would never be able to prove it, but he could swear he managed to make Kakashi blush at least once (it was hard to tell because of the mask).

They were basically comfortable with each, able to be themselves and not worry about rank.

They managed to finish around 7:00, and after Iruka had filed away the last report, they left the building. They walked at a leisurely pace towards Iruka's home, enjoying each others company and glad that the days work was finally over.

They entered Iruka's house and took off their sandals. Iruka took off his vest and hung it on a peg by the door before heading towards the kitchen.

"So what are you planning on making?" asked Kakashi as he also took off his vest and hung it on a peg next to Iruka's vest.

"Curry, if that's fine with you." said Iruka before disappearing into the kitchen.

"That would be perfect. I haven't had curry in ages." replied Kakashi. Kakashi wasn't a bad cook, it was just that he often ended up eating away from home. He was also often too lazy to make anything more complicated than instant ramen. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when it's ready." An affirmative came from the kitchen and Kakashi headed for the couch.

He was just about to lower himself on to the coach when a small, white blur streaked from the hall to the doorway. Sense's on the alert, Kakashi slowly and quietly moved to the doorway to investigate. Just as he reached it, the white blur streaked between his legs and went behind the nearest armchair. Kakashi took out a shuriken just in case as he edged around the armchair, only to find nothing there.

Just as he was wondering if he was seeing things, the white object launched itself from the seat of the armchair at Kakashi's head. He didn't have time to throw his shuriken or dodge. The surprise caused Kakashi to lose his balance and fall back with a yell.

"Gaahh!"

Iruka came out of the kitchen wearing a white apron with little dolphins all over it to see if Kakashi was alright. He found him sitting on the floor, legs stretched out in front of him and arms crossed over his chest. A small, fluffy white cat with green eyes was sitting on top of Kakashi's spiky silver hair. Kakashi regarded Iruka calmly as he asked, "When were you going to inform me of the fact that you got a cat?"

"Ah, gomen, gomen. I was so busy that it just slipped my mind. I found her on Monday. She looked a little underfed and like she needed a home, so I just took her in." Iruka lifted the little cat off Kakashi's head and knelt down next to him. He smiled as he held the cat to his chest so that it was facing Kakashi. "This is Ame-chan." Ame-chan meowed.

"Ame-chan?"

"Well, it was raining when I found her."

"Oh." Kakashi nodded. Iruka held her out to Kakashi, who took her cautiously. He didn't really have too much experience with cats, and he wasn't too sure if he should trust this one after what had happened. He set her in his lap, and she stared up at him.

"Well, she didn't try to bite or scratch you, so I guess she must like you. She wouldn't let Sakura or Sasuke touch her when those three came to visit. At first she hissed at Naruto, but after a while she let him pet her."

"So that's why those two were all scratched up. We haven't had any lost cat missions for a while, so I was a bit curious."

Iruka laughed and would have gone back to the kitchen if Kakashi didn't stop him by grabbing the edge of his apron. Iruka gave him a questioning look. "Just wanted to say nice apron, dolphin-sensei." Kakashi said with a highly amused look on his face, which only grew when Iruka blushed at being called 'dolphin-sensei'.

"It was a gift from Naruto."

"Ah, then Naruto has good taste since it suits you so well." Iruka blushed more and muttered a thank you before going back to the kitchen.

Kakashi stood up, cradling Ame in the crook of his arm. He went over to the couch and laid himself out. He settled the cat on his chest and tucked and arm behind his head. He began to idly scratch behind Ame's ears, earning a purr of approval from the little cat. "You now," began Kakashi very quietly, "you are one very lucky kitty. You get to live with a nice guy like Iruka." Kakashi had added 'helps animals' to his list of things which he found endearing about Iruka. Number one was his naiveté. He knew and understood the life of a shinobi, and yet he was still so soft at heart.

Kakashi also suspected him of being a virgin. He always got flustered in the most wonderful way whenever he joked or teased about anything of a sexual nature. Which made Kakashi wonder if Iruka had a girlfriend before he told himself that he didn't care if Iruka had a girlfriend or not (despite wishing deep down that he didn't have one).

"I wish I could live with Iruka too." After realizing what he just said, he froze. _Okay, were did THAT come from? I have my own place, and it's not as if I LIKE him. Well, I do like him. As a friend. Yup, he's nothing more than my friend. My cute friend who I like, as a friend. _He was pulled out of his swirling thoughts by Ame butting her head against his chin to get his attention when he didn't resume petting right away. Kakashi pushed his jumbled thoughts to the side as he began scratching behind Ame's ears again. He eventually dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

When Iruka came into the living room a little bit later, he found an endearing site. Kakashi had one arm draped over the edge of the couch, the other was resting on his chest. His head was flopped over to the side so that his face was to the back of the couch, and curled up and sleeping under his chin was Ame.

Iruka couldn't resist taking advantage of such a sweet scene. He quietly went into his room and grabbed a camera. When he got back to the living room he positioned himself at the end of the couch were Kakashi's feet were. He turned the camera so that he could take a full-length shot, focused, and snapped.

The flash woke Kakashi up, and he blearily blinked at the grinning Iruka. "It's time to wake up sleepyheads! The curry is ready."

Ame gave Kakashi's chin a lick before jumping off and sauntering her way to Iruka's bedroom. Kakashi yawned and stretched before getting up himself. "What was with the camera?"

"You and Ame-chan looked so sweet and peaceful when you were sleeping that I couldn't resist taking a picture. It's not often that I get to see the great Hatake Kakashi sleeping as peacefully as a child." Iruka continued to grin as his said this. He headed back to his room to hide the camera in case Kakashi tried to get the film away from him, although he was sure that if Kakashi really wanted to, he could probably find it no matter where he hid it.

_He thought I looked sweet and peaceful?_ If anyone else had told Kakashi he looked 'sweet' when he was sleeping, he probably would have knocked them flat. But it was Iruka who said he looked sweet, and it made him very happy that Iruka had thought of him like that.

Iruka came back to the living room and found Kakashi standing in a daze. Iruka gave into his childish impulses, and with both hands gave Kakashi's cheeks a tweak. Kakashi came to with a slight jolt and rubbed his cheeks indigently. "The curry will get cold if you keep falling asleep." said Iruka with another grin.

Kakashi immediately forgot about the tweaking and happily followed Iruka into the kitchen. He was looking forward to this because Naruto was always going on about how great a cook Iruka was (plus he was starving, and it was an added bonus that it was free).

Kakashi took a seat at the table while Iruka brought over a pot of tea that had been brewing on the stove. It was while Iruka was pouring the tea that Kakashi finally noticed that Iruka had taken off his hiate-ae and hair tie. Iruka's hair fell around his face, and it seemed to bring out the femininity of it even more. Kakashi found his fingers itching to brush some of the dark strands back behind Iruka's ear, and he had to clench his hands in his lap to keep himself form giving into the impulse. He was forced to finally admit to himself that he found Iruka attractive. _Damnit! I think I like him as more than a friend. _He then decided to do something that he didn't do for a lot of people.

Iruka sat down and before he could do anything else Kakashi said, "Could you close your eyes for a minute?" Iruka gave Kakashi a puzzled look before complying. That was another one of the things he found endearing about Iruka, how trusting he was (it was also one of the things that caused him to worry about him too).

Iruka heard some rustling coming from the other side of the table before Kakashi said, "Okay, you can look now." Iruka opened his eyes and his jaw dropped. Kakashi had pulled down his mask so that his face was completely exposed, and he was devastatingly handsome! His face almost bordered on beautiful. His skin was pale and unblemished. His nose was straight and he had a slightly pointed chin, and his cheeks were perfection. What really nailed Iruka was the smile, the smile he could _see._ The smile which showed Kakashi's perfect teeth and was causing butterflies to rise in his stomach.

"So, what do you think?" asked Kakashi, still smiling.

Iruka snapped his mouth shut with an audible click, and looked down at the table as his face started to turn red. Iruka mumbled something in a very low voice. Kakashi asked Iruka to speak up. Iruka turned even redder before raising his voice and stammering out, "I-I-I thin-think that your ve-very hand-handsome, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi's smile grew. "I'm glad to hear you say so, and you now, you don't have to call me sensei all the time. It makes me feel kind of old to hear you call me that."

"Okay." Finally recovering a bit, Iruka went ahead and asked something that he had been wondering about for a while now. "How old are you anyways, Kakashi-san?"

"26." Kakashi inwardly sighed. _I was hoping he would call me just Kakashi._

"Ehh! You're only a year older than me! I always thought you were in your thirty's or forty's."

"Do I look that old?" asked Kakashi with an exaggerated pout.

Iruka took a bite of curry to prevent himself from laughing at Kakashi's antics before answering, "Well, it's kind of hard to tell with that mask, and that silver hair…."

"My hair's been this color since I was born, it can't be helped." Kakashi finally took a bite of curry himself, and his eye lit up. "This is really good!"

"Arigatou." replied Iruka happily.

* * *

Later, full and satisfied after two helpings of Iruka's curry, (which Kakashi declared the best curry in the world, causing Iruka to blush again) Kakashi reluctantly prepared to head home.

Iruka watched as Kakashi put his sandals and vest back on. Why hadn't he noticed how graceful Kakashi was before? _No, I'm not thinking of Kakashi like this. He's my friend. Just my friend. Sure I think he's attractive, but that doesn't mean anything. He's just my friend, just my friend, just…._

Kakashi finished adjusting his vest and then turned to Iruka and flashed him a smile. "Well, I guess this is good night. Thanks for the great food. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." He pulled up his mask and opened the door, Iruka wished him a feeble good night before the door closed.

_Oh, who the hell am I kidding. I have a crush on Kakashi. _Iruka was more honest with himself when it came to how he felt about people, so it didn't take as long for him to figure out that what he felt for Kakashi was more than friendship. He just wondered when his feelings had become something more. He couldn't say for sure if it was just infatuation or love because he had never fallen in love before. He decided to worry about it later as he headed back to the kitchen to clean up.

* * *

Kakashi was happy, and he had a very good reason to be so. He had finally figured out why he found Iruka so good looking and cute, and why he liked being around him so much. It didn't bother him anymore that Iruka was a guy.

'_The heart wants what the heart wants' as the saying goes. _was what Kakashi was thinking. He wasn't going to say anything yet though. He wouldn't risk ruining the new friendship he had unless he was sure it was love and not just infatuation.

All of Kakashi's previous relationships had been of a purely physical nature, and they hadn't lasted long. If he got together with Iruka, he would want it to last and be more than just a physical pleasure. If Iruka felt the same way, then he would let him set the pace of the relationship. But first, he had to find out if Iruka was available. Then he would have to find out if he had a chance with Iruka.

"Okay, tomorrow I'm going to get one of those favors he owes me, and I'll try to find out if he's seeing anyone or if there's someone he likes."

He spent the rest of the walk home trying to think of what kind of favor to ask for. Tomorrow was Saturday, and Iruka wouldn't be teaching. This meant that after a sufficient amount of time torturing training his students, he could spend as much time as he wanted to embarrassing Iruka (the more Kakashi likes someone, the more he teases them). He remembered how Iruka had wanted him to stop reading his beloved Icha Icha Paradise books, and suddenly he cackled evilly as the perfect idea came into his head. He knew exactly what he would ask that straight laced school teacher to do.

He started whistling as he neared his apartment, happy to have solved so many problems in one day. He looked forward to the next day and what it had in store for him.

Little did he know that things wouldn't go exactly as he planned……

* * *

Thanks to the following readers for reviewing: Isolde1, Evil Kasumi, tatsumaki, SweetMoons (previously known as MoonSweet), Morien Alexander, Suke-san, ePuiChi, Dvana, Vin(), TheTrueSilver, Renn, LittleDarkOne, Iceheart19(), Silverone, Yuen-chan, Razu, and alia(). Thank you to non-reviewing readers as well.

Jaa ne!


	5. Laundry and spare rooms

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Naruto is a creation of Masashi Kishimoto-sensei.

**Note: **This chapter was edited on May 26, 2006. Some previous content that may have come before and after the chapter may have been removed or replaced.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?**

Chapter five-Laundry and spare rooms

By Riyo-sama

Iruka left his alarm off and slept until 7:00. He awoke feeling happy and refreshed. He took his time getting ready for the day and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. There wasn't any work to do today, so he was going to do some cleaning and relax at home.

He did the dishes before sweeping and mopping the tiled kitchen floor. He then dusted the whole house except for the storage room. He would worry about cleaning the storage room another day. Ame followed Iruka around the house as he dusted, and she batted at the little dust motes and bunnies that came floating down to the floor. Iruka swept the floor next, and when he had a pile of dust and dirt collected, Ame pounced on it, causing it to scatter. Iruka shooed her away and quickly swept it up before she could spread it out again. He then changed the sheets on his bed and brought the laundry hamper into the kitchen where the floor was once again dry.

He quickly cleaned the bathroom while the first half of the laundry was washing. When he was done he came back to the kitchen and switched the clean laundry to the dryer and started the rest of the laundry washing. It was after this that he finally checked his watch which read 1:00. He decided it was time for a lunch break so he pulled the last pack of ramen out of a cupboard. He made a mental note that he should go buy groceries after he finished his lunch and the laundry.

He fed Ame before putting some water on the stove to boil. While waiting for the water to heat, his mind finally turned to last night. _Who would have thought that Kakashi was that good looking? Maybe that's why he wears that mask all the time. If he let his face show, then he'd probably have it even worse then Uchiha-san. _Iruka blushed. _I can't let Kakashi know I'm thinking about him like this. He'd probably be offended if he knew a guy was thinking of him like that. Although, he didn't seem to mind when I told him I thought he was handsome. _This made Iruka feel hopeful.

He noticed the water was boiling and he added the noodles. _If it's nothing more than a silly crush, it might go away. I don't want to ruin our friendship over something like that, so I won't say anything until I'm sure that it's more than just a crush. _Deep down, Iruka hoped that if Kakashi did find out, that he would feel the same. If he didn't, he hoped they could at least remain friends. With a sigh he stirred in the seasoning and poured the contents into a bowl he had sitting on the counter. He placed the pan in the sink before taking the hot and steaming bowl to the table. _I guess worrying about it too much won't do me any good. I'll just let things take their own course._ He pushed his thoughts of Kakashi to the side and concentrated on his ramen.

After lunch he finished the laundry and put it away. He then went through the kitchen cupboards and the fridge and made a list of everything he needed. When he was done he grabbed his wallet and put on some sandals before stepping out the door.

_It looks like rain. _observed Iruka as he noticed the dark clouds in the sky. He reached back through the door which was still open and grabbed an umbrella which was sitting by the door before locking it.

Iruka took his time walking to the market. He was in a good mood because when he finished with the groceries he would have time to relax. He had gotten a new book last week which he'd been dying to read, but just hadn't been able to find the time to start. It was written by one of his favorite authors, and he had heard that this particular book was exceptionally good.

Iruka got half way home after buying his groceries before it started raining. He was glad that there was only one grocery bag because it made it easier to hold the umbrella. The rain was falling hard and fast, but he was able to make it home without getting terribly wet.

It was around 4:00 when Iruka finished putting away the groceries. He decided that he would have some tea and then sit down to read in the living room. He had just set the water for the tea on the stove to boil when he heard someone knocking on the front door. Ame who had been twining herself around Iruka's legs and purring gave a meow before darting away towards the door.

Iruka went to answer the door, and was surprised to find a soaking wet Kakashi standing at his doorstep. Before Kakashi could say anything, Iruka pulled him into the house and shut the door. Ame jumped away to avoid the water that was cascading off of Kakashi onto the little tiled area that was in front of Iruka door.

"What are you doing coming over without an umbrella! It's raining cats and dogs!" scolded Iruka.

"I have a very good reason and explanation for that." answered Kakashi good-naturedly despite his current condition and the look Iruka was giving him.

"Well, whatever it is, it can wait until you put some dry clothes on. It may be the middle of summer, but you could still catch a cold. Wait there a minute." He left Kakashi where he was standing and headed towards his bedroom, muttering something about 'reckless jounins'.

Kakashi couldn't help grinning over the fact that Iruka would worry about his health enough to scold him. Most people didn't think that the legendary copy-ninja needed anyone to worry about him.

He took off his vest and hung it on the same peg he had used last night to allow it to drip. The vest was water resistant to avoid damage to any scrolls or important documents kept in the pockets, but that didn't prevent the rain from clinging to it and finding it's way underneath the vest so that it could soak his shirt.

Iruka came back with a dry set of clothes just as Kakashi finished removing his sandals. "I hope these will fit you well enough. There should be some towels in the bathroom for you to dry yourself with. I was getting ready to make some tea when you came, would you care to have some when you're done changing?"

Kakashi gratefully accepted the clothes from Iruka. He was starting to feel a little chilled from his soaking. "Tea sounds good right now."

"Come to the kitchen when you're ready, it should be done by then." said Iruka before going back into the kitchen.

Kakashi felt a slight twinge of guilt at the wet trail he left as he walked to the bathroom. Being the observant shinobi he was, he could tell that Iruka had cleaned it since his visit last night.

After shutting himself in the bathroom, he stripped himself down to his boxers and hung the wet clothes up. He even removed his hiate-ae. He found a towel and rubbed his body dry before working on drying his hair.

He put on the shirt and pants Iruka provided him with after he finished with his hair. They fitted surprisingly well, although the pants were just the slightest bit short on him. Iruka was short in comparison to many other shinobi. He smelled the shirt, and sighed. It was devoid of any detergent scent due to the fact that shinobi used unscented soaps and detergents, but it didn't smell sterile either. The only description he could give the scent was pleasant and wholesome, and he hoped that was what Iruka smelled like. He blushed when he realized what he was thinking. _It's a little to soon to be thinking like that Kakashi, he doesn't even know how you feel._

He replaced his hiate-ae, and was about to put on his mask when he stopped and thought about it. _He's already seen me without it, and he did seem to find me attractive. _Kakashi smiled to himself and hung the mask up with the rest of his clothes.

When Kakashi came into the kitchen, Iruka was pulling some cups down from a shelf with his back turned to Kakashi. When he turned around to find Kakashi standing in the entrance to the kitchen, minus his mask, he blushed. "Do the clothes fit alright?" he asked before blushing more and dropping his gaze to the floor.

"Yeah, they fit pretty well. Thanks for letting me barrow them." Kakashi answered with a grin. He just loved the fact that the mere sight of his face could make Iruka blush so cutely, and this was the first time he had ever seen Iruka dressed in something other than the chunin uniform. Iruka was wearing loose fitting khakis and a white button up shirt that was untucked and only buttoned up halfway, exposing the well tanned and toned muscles of his chest. His hiate-ae wasn't on and he had once again taken his hair tie out. The affect was amazing, he was no longer just cute and good looking. _Damn! He looks sexy!_ was what ran through Kakashi's mind, and he couldn't hide the slight pink tinge that came to his pale cheeks.

Iruka wondered why Kakashi was staring at him like that, and what he could possibly be thinking about that would make him blush. He turned away to finish preparing the tea and started to button his shirt back up much to Kakashi's disappointment. "Why don't you have a seat Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi wordless complied with the suggestion and took a seat while Iruka added tea to the water and allowed it to steep while he brought over the cups. He stood over the pot for a few minutes until he thought it had cooled enough not to be scalding hot and then brought it over to the table.

He nearly spilled it while filling his own cup when a great clap of thunder sounded outside the house and reminded them of the storm that was blowing outside. When Iruka's startled nerves calmed down, he took a seat across from Kakashi at the table and took a careful sip of the hot tea. "So, what was your reason for coming over in this weather? It must have been important."

Kakashi took a sip of tea himself before answering. "It's like this….."

* * *

(How Kakashi's day went up until that point.)

Kakashi woke up at 6:00 that day, which was exactly when he was supposed to meet his team. Which meant he had three hours to kill. After showering, he put on the last clean uniform he had, and noted that all of his casual clothes were dirty as well. _I guess it's time to go to the laundry mat._

After eating a breakfast of toast and coffee, Kakashi gathered up his laundry. With the help of a clone, he carried it to the laundry mat six blocks down from his apartment. As he entered the modest little establishment, an elderly woman seated in a chair and crocheting looked up and greeted him with a smile, "Ohayou, Kakashi-kun."

"Ohayou, Obaa-san." responded Kakashi cheerfully.

"You've left it all until you have almost nothing to wear again, haven't you?" said the woman addressed by everyone as Obaa-san with a disapproving cluck of her tongue.

Kakashi chuckled as he and his clone set the laundry down, the clone disappearing as soon as his burden was gone. "Well, you know how it is for a shinobi, missions and all that. Besides, the more laundry I have, the more money you make."

Obaa-san smiled at this. She was a bit of an institution in Konoha, had been for many years. Many bachelor shinobi like Kakashi found it difficult to keep up with simple house hold chores like laundry. So for a modest fee, the motherly old matron would do their laundry for them, and all they had to do was drop it off and pick it up. Many of these shinobi had become fond of her, and she never got tired of giving motherly advice, especially to the ones that didn't really have any family.

"Kakashi-kun, you're not making your students wait again are you?" asked Obaa-san with a stern look at Kakashi.

"It's good for them to wait. It helps build patience." said Kakashi cheerfully.

"Just make sure they don't start being late like you, Kakashi-kun." she said as she started sorting his laundry.

"Hai, hai. I'll see you later, Obaa-san." he said as he left. She turned and waved at him before going back to her task.

Kakashi took Come Come Violence out on his way back to his apartment and started reading as he walked, one hand holding the book and the other in his pocket. He was occasionally greeted by people who knew him, and he acknowledged them with a greeting and nod of his head.

He smiled to himself. He was looking forward to the fun he was going to have after he was done with his team that day. He couldn't wait to see the look on Iruka's face when he found out what he was going to have to do.

Kakashi still had his nose stuck in his book, and was trying to picture the look Iruka would have on his face when he set his foot on the first step leading to his apartment building.

At that very moment, Kakashi was blown back by some unseen force that sent him flying across the street and through the fence which he landed on the other side of. He immediately jumped back through the hole he had created after he regained his senses, book shut but still clutched in one hand and a kunai in the other. He put them both away when he found out that the reason he went flying wasn't due to an enemy.

There before him was his apartment building, going up in one huge flame.

Kakashi sighed, "I guess I better cancel training for the weekend."

(Five hours later.)

Kakashi stared at the smoking rubble that had once been his place of residence. It would be a few days before he could search for possible remains of his personal property. The only thing the fire department could determine about the nature of the fire was that it wasn't the work of an enemy. The good thing was that no one was home, so there were no fatalities or injuries.

Kakashi was glad he decided to have his laundry done today. He at least still had clothes to wear. He sighed, _What a bother. I was all paid up for the next two months. _He was going to have to find somewhere to stay until he could find a new apartment. _Who do I know with a spare bed _that _they would be willing to let me barrow?_ He went through a mental list of people he knew (he crossed Gai's name out several times and wrote 'absolutely not' next to it). Kakashi gave another sigh _And I was really looking forward to seeing that look on Iruka's face._

As soon as he thought of Iruka, a light bulb turned on in his head. It was perfect!

Kakashi was so happy at his sudden stroke of genius that he didn't even care that he was getting soaked by the rain which had started to fall. He had a silly grin plastered on his face as he started heading towards Iruka's house.

* * *

(Back to the present moment in Iruka's kitchen.)

"I thought I might as well come here and use one of those favors you still owe me." finished Kakashi as he drank the last of the tea in his cup.

"So you want to stay here until you find a new place?" asked Iruka curiously. He didn't think that Kakashi would want to use his favors for something as simple as a few nights lodging.

"Actually, I want to move in with you."

Iruka almost choked on his tea and nearly spilled it on himself, "NANI!"

"I want to move in with you. You have that empty room going to waste. I'll pay rent, and you can always evict me if it doesn't work out."

Iruka tried to process it all. Kakashi wanted to move in with him. The man who he had known for all of three weeks and had just discovered he had a crush on wanted to move in with him. He was so happy! He told himself not to get his hopes up though, Kakashi was probably just asking him because he was a friend, not because he thought of him as anything more than that. "You can move in. I do owe you after all. I won't make you pay rent though, you're a friend."

"Thanks, I know it's kind of sudden. I promise not to make you regret it though." Kakashi became lost in thought for a moment, and then his face lit up. "As a thank you and to celebrate us becoming house mates, I'll make you dinner. And don't even think of objecting."

Iruka smiled at Kakashi's enthusiasm. "Okay. Can I help?"

"Nope! I'm making you dinner. Just go read a book or something." Kakashi shooed Iruka out of the kitchen and ordered him not come back until he said it was ready.

_I guess I should get his room ready._ Iruka thought as he walked down the hall. He opened the door to the empty room and flipped the light switch on. _I'm glad I cleaned today. _he thought as he observed with satisfaction that the room was completely clean. All he needed to do was make the bed. He went across the hall to the storage room and went inside. He opened a tall cabinet that was next to the door and took out a set of sheets, blankets, and pillows.

He looked around the room again after he was finished making the bed. _It sure is empty in here, I_ _wonder why I never put this room to use? _He was looking at the nightstand which was bare as he thought this, and an idea occurred to him. He went back into the storage room and started searching the shelves for a particular box. He now wished that he had cleaned the storage room because the dust caused him to sneeze a couple of times.

After searching for about fifteen minutes, he finally found what he was looking for. He pulled a large box down off a shelve near the back and blew dust off the top. He sneezed again before opening the box to reveal several lamps. He selected a small bronze lamp with a rectangular body. It had the same swirl found on the jounin and chunin uniforms etched into each side. He pulled a plain shade of white parchment from the box and put the box back in its place. He grabbed a light bulb for the lamp before shutting the door to the storage room and going back into the spare room. Iruka placed the lamp on the nightstand and checked to see that it worked before leaving the room.

Just as he walked back into the living room, Kakashi poked his head through the entrance of the kitchen and with a smile told Iruka that dinner was ready.

Iruka was delighted when he saw what Kakashi had made. "Okonomiyaki! I can't remember the last time I had it." Kakashi waited while Iruka took a bite, and smiled when Iruka's face brightened. "Oiishi! This is really good Kakashi-san."

"Of course it is. I am a pretty good cook, I just don't like to cook for myself."

Iruka nodded, happily munching away. Kakashi watched Iruka for a few minutes before eating his own. He liked it when Iruka was happy. Iruka gave off a pleasant vibe when he was happy which made Kakashi feel warm inside.

* * *

After they finished eating and had the kitchen cleaned up, they decided to call it a night. They were both tired and it was late.

Iruka turned to Kakashi before entering his room. "I fixed up the bed in the spare room while you were making dinner. Let me know if there's anything you need."

Kakashi nodded, "Thanks, I really appreciate this."

"You're more than welcome. What kind of friend would I be if I left you out in the street, not to mention the rain. Anyways, I hope you sleep well. Oyasumi nasai."

"Oyasumi." answered Kakashi as Iruka entered his room. Kakashi walked down the hall and opened the door to what would be his room starting that night.

There was a closet in the wall to the right of the door like in Iruka's room. A dresser stood against the wall next to the door. The only other pieces of furniture were the bed and nightstand. Kakashi noticed that Iruka had made up the bed with white sheets and a dark blue blanket. An extra blanket of the same color as the other was folded at the foot of the bed. He noticed the lamp which Iruka had placed in the room as well.

He shut the door and walked over to the bed. He took off his hiate-ae and set it on the nightstand before pulling back the covers and getting in the bed. He didn't go to sleep right away though. Right then, Kakashi was on cloud nine. _I guess it is possible to get something good out of a misfortune. _he lost his apartment, but in exchange he was now going to live with Iruka! He could spend more time with him.

Kakashi settled down into the bed more. It was a lot more comfortable than his previous bed. He drifted into a warm and fuzzy dream state and smiled.

* * *

Iruka snuggled down into his own bed with an expression of equal happiness. Kakashi was going to start living with him. It also gave him a nervous-excited feeling in his stomach. The person he had a crush on was sleeping in the next room! He blushed when he realized that his thoughts resembled those of a school girl with her first crush. He hoped he wasn't exhibiting any other behaviors of that kind (although it was true that this was his first crush).

He was happy though. Living together meant that they would see more of each other. This would allow Iruka to explore his feelings for Kakashi more.

Ame who had been grooming herself in a corner came over and jumped up onto the bed. She curled herself up onto the pillow next to Iruka's and promptly fell asleep. Iruka closed his eyes and fell asleep to the now soft patter of the rain against the window.

* * *

Thanks go to the following readers for reviewing: kagerou, Isolde1,ChibiRisu-chan,Maliciously Creative, Evil Kasumi, bluepixie13, ePuiChi, Moon Klutz, Renn, Lady Geuna, animeteen, mousesensei(), sapphire-wolf1, Indian princess, and Silverone.

I use some Japanese words in here, and I assume that most people know what these words mean since this is a fan fiction based on a Japanese manga/anime. But if there happens to be someone who doesn't, then please let me know. Tell me which word it is that you don't know, and I'll list the translation. Jaa ne!


	6. Coffee and self admittance

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishamoto-sensei does.

**Note: **This chapter was edited on May 26, 2006. Some content that came before and after the chapter may have been removed or replaced.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?**

Chapter six-Coffee and self-admittance

By Riyo-sama

Kakashi didn't recognize his surroundings at first when he woke up the next morning. He didn't panic though. The events of the previous day came back to him as he looked at the clothes he was wearing and glanced at the nightstand. _That's right. My apartment turned into a pile of charcoal and Iruka agreed to let me move in._

Kakashi sat up in the bed and stretched with a yawn. He had slept really well, and his dreams had been really good. He couldn't remember what kind of dreams they had been, he just knew they were really good.

He wanted to know what time it was, but there wasn't a clock in this room. _My room. _he corrected himself. This would be his room from now on. He decided to go down the hall and check the clock by the kitchen. He left his hiate-ae on the nightstand and walked out of his room. When he got to the clock it read 7:00 A.M. He glanced into the kitchen and saw that Iruka was up and about already. Iruka was wearing the chunin uniform today, minus the outer gear and with his hair down. He had his back to Kakashi and didn't seem to notice him. He was currently attempting to grab a coffee can that had somehow gotten pushed all the way to the back of the top shelf of the cupboard over the coffeemaker.

_Damnit! I really need coffee right now too! _thought Iruka as he stood on the tips of his toes and stretched his fingers out towards the can. His fingers brushed against the can, but this only served to push the can back even further. Iruka was about to release a growl of frustration and resort to standing on a chair when he felt a lean muscled body press against his back and saw a pale hand reach up over his own and pull the can of coffee down. He took the proffered can that was being held in front of his face with both hands and felt the body move away. He turned around to find Kakashi standing inches away with a huge grin on his face.

"Ohayou." said Kakashi very cheerfully.

"O-Ohayou." said Iruka as he slowly turned red. He felt painfully shy all of the sudden. He could see more of Kakashi's face now that he had the hiate-ae off as well. Some of his hair fell over the Sharingan eye, but it was still surprising what a difference having the hiate-ae off made. Seeing Kakashi's handsome face like this every morning would take getting used to. "Um, did you sleep well?" Iruka asked, still holding the coffee can in front of himself.

"Yup. Slept great." said Kakashi, still grinning.

They stood there like that for another minute before Iruka turned around to start up the coffeemaker, his blush still in place. "Do you want some breakfast?"

"mmm, yeah. I'll have whatever your having."

"Okay. I washed your clothes for you, they're over on the dryer." indicated Iruka as he finished setting up the coffeemaker and started taking out what he would need to make breakfast. Kakashi picked up the neatly folded pile of clothes which also included his mask and other personal effects which he had discarded last night. "Thanks, you didn't have to."

"Oh, it wasn't any trouble. Feel free to use the shower while I get breakfast ready." said Iruka as he placed a pan on the stove and turned the burner on.

Kakashi nodded his head and left the kitchen without a word. He showered and dressed quickly, and made sure to drop Iruka's clothes in the hamper before leaving the bathroom. He didn't fail to notice the places where his shirt had been ripped were now mended. _He can sew? Is there anything he can't do? _Kakashi was starting to wonder how someone as dependable and well established as Iruka could put up with someone as lazy and flighty as himself.

* * *

"Kakashi-san, I'm really sorry about the coffee. I guess I was so used to drinking it myself that I forgot how awful it really was." apologized Iruka yet again. They had finished there breakfast and Kakashi was brewing a fresh pot of coffee. 

"Really, how can such a good cook make such bad coffee?" said Kakashi with a shake of his head. Iruka, it had turned out, could not make good coffee even to save his life. "I forbid you to touch the coffeemaker as long as I'm living here."

"Hai." said Iruka gloomily as Kakashi brought him a mug of freshly prepared coffee. He brightened and hummed happily as he carefully sipped the hot caffeinated beverage.

"It's no surprise you think my coffee tastes good if it tastes like that when you make it." said Kakashi as he started to drink from his own cup. Iruka didn't say anything and continued to sip his coffee while trying not to look like he was a deprived coffee addict.

They cleaned up the kitchen and afterwards decided that it would be a good idea to pick up Kakashi's laundry so that he wouldn't have to barrow anymore of Iruka's clothes.

They walked along for several minutes in silence until Iruka broke it with a question. "Ne, Kakashi-san?"

"Hm?" was Kakashi's reply as he looked away from Come Come Violence to look at Iruka who had stopped walking.

"I was wondering, do you have a girlfriend?" Iruka was faintly blushing and avoiding all eye contact. He had been wondering about it for a while, but had thought it would be rude to ask. Realizing his feelings for Kakashi made him want to know even more than before however, so he felt no regrets in asking.

Kakashi was surprised at the question, he hadn't expected Iruka to ask him that. _And just yesterday **I** was going to ask **him **that. _Despite his surprise he managed to maintain a calm exterior and gave an answer. "No. Why do you ask?"

Iruka gave what could only be considered a sigh of relief. "I was, um, just curious." said Iruka quickly, still trying to avoid eye contact.

_Is it just me, or does he seem relived that I don't have a girlfriend? Does that mean that he might… _Kakashi's subconscious tried to give him suggestions on how to find out what it meant, but Kakashi thoroughly ignored it. He decided to return Iruka's question to him. "So, do you have a girlfriend, Iruka-kun?"

Iruka didn't hide his surprise as well as Kakashi did. He blushed and stuttered before finally giving a clear response of no.

"Ah." was the simple response of Kakashi, although on the inside he was shouting _Yes! He's single!_

After that they resumed walking and didn't stop again until they reached their destination. Obaa-san was the same as Kakashi had found her yesterday, only this time there were two baskets of clean folded laundry behind her.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Obaa-san." Iruka said.

She looked up and gave a very happy smile, "Ah, Iruka-kun! I haven't seen you in ages. How are you? Are your students behaving themselves?"

"Hai. I'm doing very well. The only students I have trouble with are Konohamaru and his friends. They're not as bad as Naruto though." said Iruka with a fond chuckle.

"That's good to hear. Kakashi-kun, I heard what happened, are you alright?" asked Obaa-san with a look of concern in his direction.

Kakashi waved a hand as if to dismiss the situation as nothing serious. "Yeah, I'm fine. I wasn't inside the building when it blew up." He chose to leave out the fact that he got thrown across the street by the force of the explosion, and had also gone through a fence. He threw an arm over Iruka's shoulders and said with a happy face, "I already found a place to stay too. Iruka is letting me move in with him."

Iruka couldn't hide the blush on his face. The person he had a rapidly growing crush on was practically draping himself on him. It was the second time that day that he had made physical contact with him, and he had to admit that he liked it.

"I'm glad for that. I think it will be good for the two of you to live together, since your both alone. Iruka might even be able to get you to be on time, Kakashi-kun." said Obaa-san with a twinkle of amusement in her eye.

Kakashi rolled his visible eye at her as if to say 'It'll never happen.'

* * *

"Jaa, mata." said Iruka and Kakashi together, Iruka returning Obaa-san's bow before leaving with Kakashi's laundry. Kakashi had promised to pay his tab next time he got paid since he wouldn't be needing to use her services anymore. She made him promise to come visit her from time to time, and to make sure he brought Iruka with him. 

"How do you know Obaa-san? You have a washer and dryer, so you wouldn't need her to do your laundry." Kakashi asked Iruka with curiosity.

"I didn't always live in the house I do now. I lived in a much bigger house with my parents when I was younger, but when they died I couldn't afford to keep it. I had to sell it and move into an apartment. That's when I met Obaa-san. She lived in the same apartment building. I was still a kid and I had a hard time living on my own. I guess you could say she took me under her wing. She helped me learn how to cook and sew, and how to do laundry of course." Iruka suddenly laughed, "She also scolded me whenever I got in trouble for pulling one of my pranks."

"Eh? You pulled pranks!" said Kakashi incredulously.

"Nothing as bad as painting graffiti on the Hokage monuments, but I did some pretty wild and foolish things." said Iruka with a reminiscent and embarrassed smile.

"Like what?" asked Kakashi skeptically. He had a very hard time picturing Iruka as the mischievous type, although there were times when his eyes would light up with a look of fun and merriment. Iruka motioned him to move his head down so he could whisper in his ear and Kakashi obliged, liking the sensation of Iruka's breath tickling against his ear. Kakashi's eye widened comically as he listened to Iruka, and he pulled his head away to stare at him with a look of disbelief, "_You _did _that_?"

Iruka laughed, the look on Kakashi's face was priceless. "That was my best prank ever, and one of the few times I didn't get caught. No one ever found out it was me except Obaa-san. I can almost swear that she has telepathic powers or something like that. I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else about it."

"Heh. I never would have pegged you as the prankster type." said Kakashi as they finally reached Iruka's house and approached the door. Iruka shifted the basket he was holding so that it was resting on his hip. He fished the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

After removing their sandals they both carried the baskets into Kakashi's room and set them on the bed. Iruka looked at his watch and frowned. "I'm sorry Kakashi-san, but I have a teacher's meeting at the academy in half and hour. I'm not sure how long it'll be."

"No worry's, I'll be fine." said Kakashi despite his disappointment at not being able to spend more time with Iruka.

"Feel free to raid the fridge if you're hungry, it's well stocked. I'll be going now. Jaa, ne."

Iruka left Kakashi in the room. Kakashi waited until he heard the front door close before he got to work on putting his clean laundry away in the empty closet and dresser.

"Bored!" complained Kakashi as he flopped down into an armchair in the living room. It was now 4:00 P.M., and Iruka hadn't returned yet. Kakashi had finished putting away his laundry and had lunch long ago. He finished reading his book and poked around the study, making mental notes of which books looked interesting, and scrolls that might be useful. He looked more closely at the weapon's cases, reading the little cards next to each one that gave information on the maker, where it came from, and how it was acquired. The weapons he had noted were well cared for. There wasn't a spot of rust or tarnish to be found. He had considered exploring the storage room, but decided against it when he saw how dusty it was.

The boredom he felt now reminded him of the day he first got to know Iruka. Just like now, he was so bored out of his mind that he would have given just about anything for something fun to do or see.

Looking back, he probably wouldn't have ended up were he was now if he hadn't gotten it into his head to challenge Iruka for fun. Now that he thought about it, he had encountered Iruka before that, but he had just dismissed him as unimportant, just another chunin. That was up until he passed team seven.

He'd done some minor information gathering on him to satisfy himself as to the character and standards of his student's previous sensei. He almost hadn't believed what he heard people say about him. You would of thought they were talking about a saint the way some people went on about him. How could a shinobi be anything like a saint?

He wanted to know more, satisfy his curiosity and find out if he really was what everyone made him out to be. He never in his wildest dreams would have imagined that something as simple as a challenge would have lead to him falling in-

Kakashi's musing's were interpreted by the sound of the door opening, signaling Iruka's return. Kakashi turned in the chair to look in the direction of the door from were he heard Iruka call out "Tadaima." before emerging into the living room with his three students following behind. Naruto gave Kakashi an angry stare, "It's true! You did move in!"

Kakashi chose to ignore Naruto's outburst. He listened to Iruka's explanation of how he had run into them on the way back from the academy and how he had explained Kakashi's situation to them.

"Kakashi-sensei no baka! You never showed up this morning or yesterday! You could have at least sent a message or something if you weren't going to come!" fumed Naruto.

"I've been a bit busy with other things." said Kakashi with a bored look on his face, unperturbed by Naruto's anger. Naruto opened his mouth to make a retort, but stopped when Sakura whispered in his ear. His anger deflated and he gave out a soft "Oh, I almost forgot." almost too quite to hear.

Kakashi was going to ask what he almost forgot when Sasuke gave a slight cough. "Iruka-sensei, I wanted to return the books and scrolls you lent to me. I was wondering if I may barrow some more from you."

"Of course you may Uchiha-san. I found that scroll you said you wanted to see but couldn't find in the library. Do you still want it?"

Sasuke nodded a yes and followed Iruka to the study. Sakura nudged Naruto, flicked a glance at Kakashi and gave Naruto a meaningful glare before running off to follow Sasuke and Iruka.

Kakashi looked at the hallway were the three had disappeared, puzzled at the actions of his students. He turned to Naruto who was now standing next to his chair and was considering Kakashi with a serious look in his eyes.

Naruto didn't say anything for several minutes, he just stared. Kakashi was starting to get annoyed with the staring when Naruto said in a very matter of fact voice, "You like Iruka-sensei."

Kakashi was surprised that having someone confront him with this fact didn't freak him out as much as he thought it would. Maybe it was because it was Naruto doing the confronting. He didn't want to jump to conclusions though and decided to see just how much Naruto thought he liked Iruka. "So, what brought you to this conclusion of yours, that I like Iruka?"

Naruto started to explain as if the reasons where blaringly obvious, "You get the most ridiculously happy expression on your face when he's around and you think no one's looking. You're dazed during our training. You make excuses and go out of your way to spend time with him. You get irritated when you haven't seen him all day. Your eyes are always on him when he's within sight. You've also been asking me a lot of questions about him lately. Sakura-chan says that these are all symptoms of a man in love."

A thunderbolt could have struck and he wouldn't have noticed. _I didn't think I had it that bad. I wonder how many people have noticed? _Kakashi suddenly started to feel defensive. He crossed his arms and pinned a defiant gaze on Naruto. "Yeah, I like him. If you must know, I think I've fallen in love with him. Got a problem with it?" Kakashi hadn't realized how much tension he had built up inside him over the whole thing. Saying how he felt out loud to another person seemed to lift a weight off his shoulders.

Naruto didn't seem fazed at all, in fact he smiled. "Iruka-sensei told me that things like gender shouldn't matter. It's if you really love a person that counts. So if you really love him it's okay."

Kakashi stared at him. "Iruka said that?"

"Yeah. When I was eight, I saw two guys kissing. I asked Iruka-sensei if it was alright for them to be kissing each other when their both guys. He got really red in the face and wanted to know why I was asking him about it. I think he didn't know what to say. He took a while to think about it before coming up with an answer."

_At least I know that he isn't against same gender relationships. How he feels about being in one himself is another story._ Kakashi tilted his head and gave Naruto a thoughtful look. "So you're not opposed to me, your male instructor, being in love with your former male instructor?"

Naruto thought about this for a moment. "If you make Iruka-sensei happy, it's okay. I think he's kind of lonely, he needs to get together with someone." Naruto suddenly got a threatening look in his eyes. "If you do anything to hurt or upset Iruka-sensei however, than the three of us will make your life a living hell."

Kakashi sweatdropped and did his best to sound reassuring, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep him happy."

"Are we going to train tomorrow?" asked Naruto. Kakashi's eye twitched. _Only Naruto could go from confronting someone about their sexual orientation to training without batting an eye. _He decided to tease Naruto a bit.

"Hmm, I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know!" shouted Naruto.

Kakashi ignored Naruto's angry glare and got up from the chair and walked over to the couch. "I've been enjoying not having to give you three orders for the last two days." Kakashi stretched himself out on the couch and made himself comfortable. "I was thinking that maybe I should just cancel training for the rest of the week." Kakashi closed his eye and pretended to be thinking about it. He didn't see the slowly growing twitch in Naruto's eye.

The only warning he had was Naruto's incredulous yell of "You lazy-assed excuse of a sensei!"

Before he felt two knees slam down into his stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs in a loud 'oomph!'.

_The little fox needs a lesson in respecting his elders._ thought Kakashi as he started molding charka.

* * *

When Sasuke, Sakura, and Iruka returned, they found Kakashi holding Naruto upside down by the ankles in one hand while reading his book in the other. A clone was tickling the living daylights out of Naruto. Naruto's face was red and there were tears streaming from his eyes as he laughed and giggled hysterically. 

Kakashi suddenly realized that he had an audience and immediately released Naruto and his charka. This caused the clone to disappear and Naruto to land head first on the couch where he fell over onto his back and clutched his sides. He sucked in great gulps of air while trying to regain control of himself and giving out random giggles.

"Find any good books?" Kakashi asked Sasuke cheerfully with his face scrunched up in a smile. Sasuke nodded dumbly, shifting the stack of books and scrolls in his arms.

"Ano, Kakashi-sensei, why were you tickling Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Oh, that was just a punishment." Kakashi said, smile still in place.

Sasuke and Sakura both stared at him as if they thought he would lunge at them any minute. _I hope he never punishes me like that. _was what they were both thinking.

Kakashi glanced over at Iruka, wondering why he wasn't saying anything. Iruka was leaning against the wall and seemed to be very deep in thought. Sasuke said farewell and left without further comment. To Kakashi's surprise, Sakura didn't go after him. Instead she went over to Naruto who had regained enough of his composure to sit up and was slowly getting his breath back. She started a whispered conversation with him, sometimes looking up at Kakashi or Iruka.

_A conspiracy perhaps?_ thought Kakashi as he raised an eyebrow at his students' unusual behavior. He shrugged to himself and decided to let it be. Whatever they were plotting probably wouldn't cause to much harm. Or at least he hoped it wouldn't.

Kakashi walked over to Iruka and stood directly in front of him. Iruka was still lost in thought and didn't seem to notice Kakashi looming over him. Kakashi waited a bit before clearing his throat loudly. No response. He waved a hand in front of Iruka's face. Nothing. _Did he fall asleep? _wondered Kakashi. Kakashi put a hand on Iruka's shoulder and shook it lightly while softly calling his name. Iruka came out of his reverie with a start. He blushed when he saw who had brought him out of it.

"Kakashi-san! Gomen nasai, did you need something?"

"Not really. What were you thinking about so hard that you didn't notice someone standing in front of you?"

Iruka's blush deepened and spread further over his face. "Well, um, that is, I, uh," he was desperately looking everywhere but at Kakashi, "Oh, when did Uchiha-san leave?"

"A few minutes ago." replied Kakashi, who was puzzled as to why Iruka was evading his question.

"Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei." They turned to Sakura who was standing next to them. "I promised Okaa-san that I would help her go shopping today, so I'll be going now. Iruka-sensei, it was nice talking with you today." Iruka gave a nervous laugh. "Kakashi-sensei, will you be meeting with us tomorrow?" Sakura asked sweetly with a gleam in her eye that told Kakashi if he didn't say yes that he would learn what woman's fury truly was. He quickly nodded yes, to which she responded with a beaming face before saying farewell to both sensei's and running out the door.

Just as the door shut behind her, Naruto jumped up onto Iruka's back and flung his arms around his neck, nearly choking him. Iruka brought his arms behind himself to help support Naruto's weight in an effort to relieve the pressure on his neck. "Iruka-sensei, can I sleepover tonight?"

A smile flickered across Iruka's face, "Only if you stop trying to choke me."

"Yay!" Naruto released his strangle hold and held onto Iruka's shoulders instead. "Can we have ramen for dinner?"

"If you eat some vegetables." said Iruka with a full smile on his face now.

"Nani! I hate vegetables!" cried Naruto. The expression on his face plainly said that he thought the existence of vegetables in the world was completely unnecessary.

"No veggies, no ramen."

Naruto stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "Fine."

Kakashi started to laugh, which made Naruto angry. In his excitement he released his hold on Iruka and would have fallen to the floor if Iruka hadn't been holding on to him.

He righted himself and started to sulk. He stuck his tongue out at Iruka who was laughing too.

* * *

Iruka laid back in his bed with a tired sigh. He glanced at Naruto who was sprawled out next to him and already snoring like there was no tomorrow. Ame was resting on Naruto's stomach in such a tightly curled ball that she could have passed for a large fluffy cotton ball if not for her ears sticking up. 

Naruto was out of his usual orange and wearing white cotton pajamas with red spirals splattered all over. Iruka was also in pajamas, having actually taken the time to change before bed for once. They were another one of Naruto's many dolphin themed gifts. They were light blue with dolphins on the lapels, and also on the cuffs of the sleeves and pants.

Iruka smiled as he looked at his two sleeping companions. Naruto had spent the evening after dinner playing with Ame and trying to teach her tricks. He suspected that Naruto might have actually succeeded in teaching her something, but wasn't sure he wanted to know what.

He sighed again as he looked back up at the ceiling and recalled the conversation he had with Sakura earlier.

* * *

"Ne, Iruka-sensei, I need to talk to you about something." 

Iruka gave her a warm smile and turned his attention to Sakura while Sasuke started to look over the book shelves. "What do you need to talk about?"

Sakura smiled at him sweetly, "About you liking Kakashi-sensei."

Iruka went as red as a tomato and didn't say anything_. How did she find out! I didn't tell anyone. Have I been acting strangely?_

"Iruka-sensei, a girl can always tell when someone is in love." said Sakura, somehow guessing Iruka's thoughts.

"I, I, I…" stuttered Iruka, before gaining control of himself. "Um, do you really think it's love?"

Sakura smiled warmly, "Defiantly! You get so incredibly happy looking when he's around. You blush so easily at everything he says and does. Konohamaru told Naruto that you've been distracted during lessons lately. Plus, why else would you let someone you've only known for three weeks move in with you on such short notice?"

"Maybe your right." said Iruka slowly. "Um, does Naruto know?"

"Hai. He looked so adorable when I told him. He's so cute when he's in protective little brother mode. 'What could he possibly see in that lazy hentai! He deserves better.' was what he said." Sakura winked and put a finger up to her lips, "Don't' tell him I said that, ne?"

Iruka smiled, "Our secret."

"Don't worry, the three of us will support you all the way. Ne, Sasuke-kun?" said Sakura to Sasuke who had finished collecting the books and scrolls he wanted and finally joined them.

Sasuke gave a small nod, "If Kakashi-sensei does something stupid, let us know and we'll take care of him."

Iruka and Sakura were both surprised by how vehement Sasuke's response was. Deep down, Sasuke looked up to Iruka as a brother like figure, just like Naruto. He didn't like to show it though unlike Naruto.

Iruka gave them a soft smile. "Arigato."

* * *

Iruka was smiling, but he sighed once again as he turned over onto his side and closed his eyes. He remembered the last thing Sakura had asked him before leaving the study.

* * *

"Iruka-sensei, when are you going to confess your love?"

* * *

Thanks go to the following readers for reviewing: Dream Fox, Sei the purple ryu, Alana Quinn, chibified Kitsunes, Sasukara(), Renn, Maliciously Creative, Silverone, Yuen-chan 

Jaa, ne.


	7. A new friend

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Naruto is the creation of Masashi Kishamoto-sensei.

**Note: **This chapter edited on May 26, 2006. Some content from before and after the chapter may have been removed or replaced.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?**

Chapter seven-A new friend

By Riyo-sama

Naruto quietly slid open the door and shut it just as quietly after exiting the room. He tip-toed with as much stealth as he could muster down the hall toward Kakashi's door with Ame following close on his heels. He stopped when he reached the door and listened for the sound of slow even breathing that would tell him Kakashi was still asleep. When he was assured of this fact, he very carefully inched the door open so that it would be wide enough for Ame to slide through. He peered inside before turning his head and giving Ame a nod.

Ame slinked through the door and silently padded toward the bed. She paused a few inches away from the bed. Naruto watched with bated breath and resisted the urge to snicker. Ame gathered herself into a low crouch and became absolutely still, not even twitching a whisker, listening for the slightest indication of waking from her target.

And then finally, she pounced…………

* * *

(Later after breakfast.)

Naruto was still giggling despite the disgruntled glares that Kakashi and Iruka were giving him. They were both sipping coffee, and Ame was sitting in Naruto's lap with a very smug look on her face.

"Did you have to do that? I nearly had a heart attack when I heard all that yelling." said Iruka. He had been completely sound asleep at the time of Naruto's prank. He had been very startled to hear yelling that early in the morning.

"I had to get revenge for yesterdays tickle attack!" said Naruto vehemently with a glare in Kakashi's direction. He then grinned and held up Ame, "Ne, ne, Ame-chan. Guess what, I have something for you!" He set her on the table and pulled a miniature hiate-ae out of his pocket which he tied around Ame's neck. "Now you're an honorary Konoha shinobi." said Naruto proudly. Ame meowed before jumping off the table and scampering out of the kitchen.

Iruka smiled at the display affectionately. He could never stay angry for long. "Don't forget to brush your teeth and wash your face Naruto."

"Haiiiii." said Naruto as he bounded from the kitchen to the bathroom.

"Are you going to let him off with out any punishment?" asked Kakashi grumpily as he finished his coffee with a final gulp. _I'm giving him double strength training today._

"Well, what he did wasn't that terrible. No harm done." he said while standing and taking Kakashi's empty cup and carrying it to the sink with his own, having finished his long before Kakashi.

"That's a matter of opinion." Kakashi muttered under his breath so Iruka wouldn't hear. Iruka heard it anyways, and had to stifle a laugh since he didn't want to disturb Kakashi's already ruffled feathers. Iruka glanced at his watch, and did a double take. He franticly patted all his pockets as if checking to see if he'd forgotten something and looked around the kitchen before dashing out of the room. He called out behind him, "I have to meet some students before classes start for extra lessons. Jaa!". Kakashi heard a flurry of activity and the banging of the door before the house was once again silent.

Kakashi smiled, his grumpy mood finally lifted. _Always the good teacher. It adds to his charm, even if that's not what he's going for._

Naruto came back at that moment. "Did Iruka-sensei leave already?"

Kakashi still smiling, "Hai."

Naruto scrutinized Kakashi for a few minutes and then broke out in a grin, "I'm happy for Iruka-sensei."

Kakashi's face took on a questioning look, "Why?"

"I'm happy for him because you're good looking. If he's going to be with a guy, then he deserves to be with a hot one." Kakashi sat in total puzzlement. How would Naruto know what he looked like. "See you at the bridge." said Naruto with a wave as he ran out of the house, not giving Kakashi the chance to question him.

Kakashi scratched at his cheek, and that's when it finally occurred to him that he hadn't been wearing his mask_. He planned that all along! He ambushed me when I was least expecting it to throw me off. I was so distracted that I completely forgot to put it on._

Kakashi glared in annoyance at nothing in particular. _Sakura and Sasuke probably helped him plan it. _Kakashi suddenly grinned deviously. _Let's see how they like my TRIPLE strength training program._

* * *

Iruka slid the classroom door shut with a sense of relief. The students had been extra rowdy today, and they only finished half of the course work he had hoped to get through today. All he wanted to do now was go home, grade papers and enjoy a quiet evening at home. _With Kakashi of course. I wonder if he's home yet._ he thought with a smile.

He started walking down the hall, only to freeze upon hearing a female voice singing out his name.

"Iiiiiirrrruuuuuukkkkkaaaaaa-kkkkkkkkuuuuuuunnnnnnnn!"

He slowly turned in place where he stood with dread to face the person addressing him, only to be barreled over when the person glomped him. "Iruka-kun, I haven't seen you in ages!" said Anko while squeezing most of the air out of Iruka.

"Hello, Anko-san." Iruka managed to wheeze out.

Anko jumped up and pulled Iruka to his feet. "Ne, Iruka-kun, Kakashi is living with you now right?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Iruka once he got his bearings.

"Genma and I were assigned cleanup duty for Kakashi's old place and we found something of his. We just wanted to drop it off. I got something for you too. That's not all, what else was I going to tell you…." she trailed off and started tapping her chin. She suddenly slapped her fist into her open palm. "Oh, now I remember!" She grabbed Iruka and started dragging him out of the academy. "There's someone I want you to meet! I think you and Kakashi should get along with him really well."

Iruka sighed and gave in without a fight. There was no stopping Anko once she had you in her grasp and she had her mind set on something.

* * *

Kakashi whistled a cheerful tune on his way home. The training today had been very satisfying, for him anyway. _I hope I wasn't to hard on them… nah, there fine._

(Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke at the moment.)

Naruto was passed out with stars spinning in his eyes, Sakura was sitting with her back against a tree, and Sasuke was leaning against the tree with his forehead while his arms hung limp. They were all breathing hard. "Ne, was it really worth it if Naruto was the only one who got to see what he looks like?" Sakura gasped out.

(Back to Kakashi.)

Iruka wasn't back yet, and having nothing better to do, Kakashi decided to read one of Iruka's books. Thinking of books reminded him that he only had one of his own left, causing him to become suddenly depressed. His shoulders slumped as he thought about it. _I won't get to ask Iruka for that one favor. I really wanted to ask him for that one too._

Kakashi would have brooded in this fashion longer if it weren't for a knocking at the door. He was surprised at who he found. "Ah, Anko, Konbanwa. What can I do for you?"

"Konbanwa, excuse us for intruding!" said Anko with a great deal of exuberance as she pushed pass Kakashi into the house.

"Konbanwa, Kakashi." said Genma as he walked in carrying a tv.

"Why are you carrying that, Genma?" asked Kakashi.

"That damn woman made me carry it all the way from her apartment to here." said Genma in irritation.

"Who are you calling 'damn woman'?" asked Anko angrily.

"Well, let's see, you're the only woman here, so who do you think I'm referring to?" said Genma. They started flinging insults back and forth with a few choice expletives.

"Tadaima." said Iruka as he walked in backwards holding up one end of a trunk.

"Excuse me for intruding, Hatake-sempai." said the person holding the other end of the trunk, a person Kakashi had never seen before.

"Okeria." said Kakashi before closing the door once he was sure that no one else was going to come in. "Ne, Iruka, who's this?"

They set the trunk down, and the stranger turned to Kakashi. "Ah, gomen. I should have introduced my self before I came in. I'm Kimura Yukio, it's a pleasure to meet you Hatake- sempai." he said with a bow. He had long black hair tied back and falling to about half way down his back, with some locks framing his face. Black eyes were set in his face which was of a feminine cast accented by a pale complexion. His build was slight and he wore a long coat going down to his heels over his uniform. His hiate-ae had both a Konoha and Sand symbol on it.

"Its nice to meet you. Why do you have the sand symbol next the Konoha symbol?" asked Kakashi.

"I'm originally a jounin from Hidden sand, I've been one for the last two years. Kazekage-sama is, how shall we say, 'lending' me to Hokage-sama. I get the feeling however that it might be a permanent arrangement." said Yukio with a slight smile.

"What's going on that would require Hokage-sama to 'borrow' a jounin from Hidden sand? You have a specialty or something?" asked Genma from one of the armchairs.

"Gomen, I'm sworn to secrecy. You'll have to ask Hokage-sama. I don't really know if you can say that I have a specialty. I do come from a long line of information specialists. I'm the first one in my family to make it as far as jounin." said Yukio with modest pride.

"We had a meeting on Saturday to introduce him to everyone. We were going to ask you to come, but then we heard what happened to your apartment so we thought we'd let you be." said Anko.

"One question: why the trunk and TV?" inquired Kakashi.

"The TV's for Iruka, since I know he doesn't have one and I wanted to get rid of my old one. The trunk is yours. We found it in the rubble of your apartment building. It's got your name on it." said Anko, while pointing at a nameplate that had the characters for his name engraved on it.

Kakashi stared at it for a minute and then quickly squatted in front of it to undo the seal on it. He popped the lid open and gave a sigh of relief at seeing that none of the contents were damaged. There were a few valuable scrolls and some weapons lining the inside of the lid. There were photos scattered inside as well and some money that he had been saving. What really made him happy though was seeing his emergency book collection. All his special edition and back-up copies of Icha Icha Paradise, Makeout Paradise, Come Come Violence, and Makeout Violence were intact. "Arigatou."

"No problem!" said Anko. Genma shrugged. Silence, and then…."Let's play poker!" said Anko, surprising everyone.

"Demo, I don't know how to play." said Iruka and Yukio at the same time. They gave each other sheepish grins.

Anko, Genma, and Kakashi all heard a little ca-chink sound along with the thought 'Easy money.'

* * *

"Royal Straight Flush!" said Yukio proudly as he laid out his cards. Anko, Genma, and Kakashi threw down their cards and groaned. Yukio started humming as he pulled his winning towards him.

"Isn't poker fun Yukio-san?" asked Iruka who had a pile of money equal in size to Yukio's and was calmly sipping tea. "I wonder what I should buy with all this money?"

"You could buy a DVD player to go with the TV." suggested Yukio as he started stacking and counting the money.

"That's a good idea." said Iruka as he poured more tea into Yukio's cup.

Iruka and Yukio continued to chat while Anko, Genma and Kakashi sat in gloom, letting what had transpired sink. "The three of us got cleaned out by novices." said Kakashi.

Anko stayed silent. Genma mumbled from where he had his forehead resting on the table, "They won every single round, and they didn't even have to bluff."

Just then Anko jumped up with a scream. "Something brushed against my leg! Iruka, do you have rats?"

Iruka shook his head. Genma and Kakashi were trying to calm their nerves. 'She's so loud.' grumbled Genma and Kakashi to themselves.

"Ano, Anko-sempai…" started Yukio.

"Call me Anko-chan, I refuse to be called sempai by someone older than me." said Anko, slightly annoyed.

"Ano, Anko-chan, I think this might be what startled you." said Yukio as he held up Ame.

Anko stared at the cat for a bit before turning on Iruka and pointing an accusing finger, "Why didn't you tell me you had a cat!"

"I…forgot?" said Iruka nervously while sweat dropping, _Anko's scary sometimes._

"Kawaii! She has her own hiate-ae. Ne, Iruka-san, what's her name?" asked Yukio as he happily began scratching behind her ears, much to Ame's approval.

"Ame-chan. Do you like cats, Yukio-san?" said Iruka with a smile, which frustrated Anko because she hated being ignored.

_Damn furball, stealing all the attention._ thought Anko as she sat back down to sulk.

"I love them! However, everyone in my family except for me is allergic to them, so I've never had one of my own." said Yukio. It was pretty plain that Ame had just made his night.

"Yukio, you've been staying at a hotel right?" asked Genma out of the blue.

"Hai." said Yukio, looking up from Ame, caught off guard by the question.

"Staying in a hotel is expensive isn't?" continued Genma. They were all looking at Genma now, wondering what his point would be.

"Hai…." said Yukio.

Genma looked away and chewed on the sebon in his mouth in thought. He then turned back to Yukio, "You could live with me while your in Konoha if you like. It'll save you money, and I heard that we'll be working on several assignments together, so it'll be convenient in that respect. It's up to you."

"I'd appreciate it very much. Are you sure you want a homosexual living with you though?" asked Yukio.

Everyone in the room was silent, until Anko let out a curse. "Kuso, I wanted to ask you for a date." , she started moping, "Why are all the good looking ones either taken, gay, or not interested?"

Kakashi was looking at Yukio thoughtfully and Iruka was just plain surprised that he had said it in such a casual manner.

Genma stood up and started walking away. "It doesn't make a difference. Where's your hotel?"

Yukio put Ame down and quickly followed Genma. "Ne, sempai…"

"Don't call me sempai." said Genma as they left the kitchen.

"Why not?" asked Yukio.

"It makes me feel old." said Genma.

* * *

After Genma, Yukio, and Anko left (she insisted that they walk her home, which sparked another fight between her and Genma), Kakashi and Iruka had dinner and went to bed. Alone with their thoughts, they were able to come to a conclusion on something that had been bothering both of them.

Iruka-'Maybe Kakashi won't react so bad if I tell him about my feelings. Maybe I can get some advice from Yukio-san?'

Kakashi-'What if Iruka is into other guys, and he ends up falling for someone else before I can tell him how I feel? I could maybe ask Yukio for help, but what if he turns out to be competition?'

Both-'I will definitely tell him tomorrow!'

Both-'…………..'

Both-'Maybe….'

* * *

Thanks go to the following readers for reviewing: Malicuously Creative, Isolde1, Polka dot, Alana Quinn, fellow reader, Sei the purple Ryu, Lady Geuna, arisa1, sweetsnow, luvsanime, chibified kitsunes, Dream Fox, Vinn(), cdkobasiuk, Yuen-chan(), remembrancer hex, Peridot Pooka, aloria-Catalonia, CapnBlackRose, xtwilightzx, eeza.

Jaa ne!


	8. You're in what? With me?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Naruto is a creation of Masashi Kishamoto-sensei.

**Note: **This chapter was edited May 26, 2006. Some content that came before and after the chapter may have been removed or replaced.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?**

Chapter eight-You're in what? With me?

By Riyo-sama

One week of attempts on both sides found both parties feeling very discouraged and frustrated.

_Just how the hell is one guy supposed to tell another guy that he has feelings of a not so platonic nature for him, when he doesn't even know if the other guy likes guys in that way? _This was the thought that held Kakashi back in his attempts to speak with Iruka about his feelings. It didn't help that all previous romances that Kakashi had taken part in had involved people drastically different than Iruka (let alone the fact that his previous romances had been with women). He was sure that Iruka wouldn't fall for cheesy lines, and he wanted to be taken seriously.

After failing to tell him face to face, Kakashi decided that he should try a love letter. _What cannot be easily articulated with the voice is more easily described by the pen, right? _thought Kakashi.

* * *

Thirty balls of crumpled paper later and Kakashi was ready to tear his hair out. _Since when was writing one little letter so hard? _Kakashi started to fume. _Damn him for being so cute, kind, dependable, good looking, and..and…and, and well just so lovable!_

Kakashi removed his hiate-ae and rubbed at his temples. He then surveyed the mess he had made of the desk and floor in the study. _It's a good thing for me that Iruka isn't supposed to be home until much later tonight. I'd be in trouble if he came in on me now, and not just because of the mess. _Just as he finished that thought, he heard the front door open and shut.

"Tadiama, Kakashi-san!" he heard Iruka call out.

_Ah crap! He's home early! _He couldn't pretend not to be home since he had said that he wasn't going out that evening, so he had to respond. "Okaeri!" _Agh! He'll come in here, see the mess, and wonder what I was up to. What if he opens one of them up and finds out? Wait, that would be a good thing since I want him to know, then I wouldn't have to go through all the stress of telling him. Ah, but I don't want him to find out like this. _Kakashi held his head in his hands and shook it from side to side while mumbling to himself.

"Kakashi-sempai, Iruka-san wants to know if you had dinner yet…" Yukio was hanging by the door frame into the room, with an eyebrow raised at the mess. Kakashi sat frozen and watched dumbly as Yukio bent to pick up a ball of paper that had landed near the door when Kakashi tossed it in his frustration. He uncrumpled it and started to read it.

Iruka came to the study door and was startled to see the mess. Yukio laughed, causing him to notice the crumpled looking paper he was holding. "What are you reading Yukio-san?"

Yukio glanced at Kakashi with a gleam of mischief in his eyes, which Kakashi caught. "A lo-" that was all the further he got since Kakashi immediately clamped a hand over his mouth and snatched the paper away.

"It's nothing, don't worry about. I'll clean up the mess in here. Could you make dinner? I'll come and help in a little bit, I just need to talk to Yukio about something." Kakashi said this so rapidly that Iruka was just barely able to keep up with what he said.

"Ummm, okay." said Iruka before walking back to the kitchen.

Kakashi shut the door and removed his hand from Yukio's mouth. Yukio immediately started laughing while Kakashi deliberately shredded the paper into itty-bitty pieces.

"It-wasn't-tha-that-bad-se-se-sempai…" said Yukio between laughs.

"Don't tell him." said Kakashi.

"Sempai shinpai nai. I've known almost since the first time I came here, and I haven't said anything yet. I'm pretty good at telling when someone likes someone else." said Yukio with a huge grin.

"Oh." was all Kakashi could come up with. Then he frowned. "What was so funny about that letter?" He had thought it was one of the better ones, but gave up on it in the end.

"Well, it seemed kind of flowery and forced. It didn't sound like you at all." Kakashi was staring at him blankly. "Iruka's known you for a little while now right? He knows what your like for the most part. So if you try being different when you tell him, he'll probably wonder if your being sincere or not. He'll probably respond more favorably if you just act like yourself."

"Really?" Kakashi was curious now. It was sound advice. "So, what did you do the first time you were in love with another guy?"

"Eh? Me?" said Yukio with surprise as he pointed at himself.

"Yes, you. I'd like to know if you don't mind." said Kakashi.

"Well, I was much younger than you are the first time. Sixteen to be exact. He was eighteen. I spent the first week in denial before I could accept the fact that I was indeed in love with someone of the same gender. I spent another week trying to decide weather or not I should try approaching him, and it was another three weeks before I actually worked up the nerve to try talking to him." Yukio paused here and smiled.

"So, what happened?" Kakashi was really interested now.

"I barely said 'Hello', and all the sudden he just started talking as if it weren't the first time we'd talked. He said he'd been watching me for a while and had wanted to get to know me. He'd actually liked me a lot longer than I'd liked him. He didn't want to scare me away by being forward though, and there was never an opportunity for him to try and become friends with me, so he had been waiting for long time."

"That was it?"

"Yeah. I know it's hard to think so now, but you're probably worrying more than you need to. You should just go ahead and tell him how you feel."

"I'll think about it." A thought suddenly occurred to him. "Yukio, why are you here tonight?"

Yukio turned red and hung his head in what seemed to be embarrassment. "Genma-san won't let me cook, even when he's not home, because I nearly burned the house down twice. Genma-san won't be home tonight, and I'm low on cash. Iruka-san said I could come over for dinner since I helped him get done with his work early when he found out about my situation." Yukio became even redder when Kakashi started laughing.

* * *

Kakashi spent the next week trying to confess to Iruka, but fate seemed to have a vendetta against him as it thwarted his every attempt to speak with him alone.

First, there was an unexplainable increase in missions, which meant that he was out in the field with his team a lot, or on solo missions. Several of the teachers at the academy caught a bug that was going around, and Iruka ended up handling their students. So, when they did end up alone, they were either too tired to do anything, or someone would come interrupt them.

By the time things slowed down next week, they were both almost ready to give up.

* * *

Having nothing better to do that day since there was finally a lull in the stream of missions, Yukio decided to go for a stroll. He had discovered a pleasant track running through the woods not to far from the main gates that he had taken a liking to.

He noticed just as he passed through the gate and waved a greeting to the gate watchers that he was being followed. Upon realizing who his followers were he smiled. _This should be fun. I've been wanting to meet them._

He continued walking as if he hadn't noticed until he reached the forest. Once in the forest, he sprinted off. They continued to follow him while just barely keeping pace with him. He led them all over the forest in zigzag patterns and loops, until they came back to about the middle of his forest track where he stopped. He waited until he was sure that they had stopped a short distance away. _This should be a good spot. _he thought before puffing out of sight.

Meanwhile, his pursuers where catching their breath and wondering what to do next. "Ne, Sakura-chan, are you sure we should ask him? He'll probably just laugh at us."

"What would I laugh at?" asked a voice directly behind Naruto. Naruto squawked in surprise and spun around to see Yukio hunched down and giving them all a big grin. Sakura was clutching her chest as if she'd almost had a heart attack (inner Sakura had fainted dead away). Sasuke looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Yukio sat down crossed-legged and looked at them thoughtfully. "Lets see now, you'd be Uzimaki Naruto, very orange and full of surprises," Naruto nodded energetically, "the young lady would Haruno Sakura, pink and intelligent," Sakura blushed, "and this would be Uchiha Sasuke, the genius of the last graduating class." Sasuke just gave him a humph. Yukio gave them another happy smile. "Kakashi-sempai was right, you're all so adorable." Yukio immediately clamped a hand over his mouth and they heard him mumble, " I wasn't supposed to tell anyone he said that."

"Ano, Kimura-san?" said Sakura hesitantly.

"Don't you think that Kimura sounds kind of stuffy? Why don't you just call me Yukio?"

His easy manner reassured her that he wasn't mad about being followed. "Yukio-san, would it be any trouble to you if we asked you for a favor?"

"Does the favor have anything to do with the thing you thought I'd laugh at?" asked Yukio, who looked amused.

"Hai, you know about Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei being in love with each other, right?" said Sakura.

"Yeah, Iruka-san came and asked me for advice about how to approach Kakashi-sempai, and just last week I found Kakashi-sempai trying to write a love letter." said Yukio.

"Well, we know that with these sorts of things that it's better to let them take their course, but it's taking too long for out tastes." said Sakura.

"All Kakashi-sensei does on the missions is mope while he reads his book, and I hear Iruka-sensei has become a bit cross at school." said Naruto.

"So, what do you want me to do about it?" asked Yukio.

"Give them a little push." said Sasuke.

Yukio blinked. "You mean, help them get their confessions over with? Would they appreciate meddling like that?" Yukio closed his eyes in thought, "It is kind of frustrating to watch them almost say it and get cold feet at the last minute. Yeah, sure, I'll help you out. Just leave it all to me." after saying this, Naruto knocked him over with a hug.

"Arigatou, Yukio. You're the best!" said Naruto.

Sakura pulled Naruto off of Yukio and starting scolding him for knocking over the person who was supposed to help them while Sasuke rolled his eyes. Yukio started laughing, gaining him three curious looks. "Gomen, it's just that you're exactly as Kakashi-sempai and Iruka-san described." He received looks of puzzlement which made him laugh harder.

* * *

After they had returned to the village and he said goodbye to the three genin, he started thinking about what the best option would be to helping the two people he had come to regard as friends.

_I could use the subtle approach and set them up in an environment that is conducive to romantic confessions. _He considered this option for about half a minute. _Ah, to hell with subtlety! They've been dragging their feet long enough. I'm getting this over with today! _He headed off in the direction of Iruka's house.

* * *

Kakashi was sitting on the couch trying to read. The keyword being **trying. **He couldn't concentrate due to the thoughts that were continuously running through his head. _I should say it now. I should march right down that hall, into the study, and say "I'm in love with you." right to his face. _That's what he thought he should do, but the more he told himself to do it, the harder it seemed to be to move.

Iruka walked into the living room on his way to the kitchen for some tea. He paused at the entrance to look at Kakashi who was too wrapped up in his thought's to notice. _We're all alone, theirs no one to interrupt us. Yet I still can't work up the courage to say it. _He repressed a sigh and would have gone into the kitchen if he hadn't heard a knocking at the front door. "I'll get it." said Iruka.

_It's strange for anyone to come around on a Wednesday evening. _thought Kakashi.

He heard greetings being exchanged before Iruka came back with Yukio. "I'm surprised to see you Yukio-san, your usually out of the village on Wednesdays." said Iruka.

"They gave me a break today, and I decided to go for walk. I met three cute little birds on my walk who sung a song about a problem that needed resolving right away, so I decided to stop by." Yukio's eyes had a strange twinkle to them. "It's something that involves the both of you."

Kakashi gave up the pretense of reading in order to give the conversation his full attention. _There's something suspicious here. Three little birds, huh? I think I have a pretty good idea what variety of bird he's referring to._

Yukio took a seat in one of the armchairs while Iruka sat on the opposite end of the couch. Both Kakashi and Iruka were looking at Yukio expectantly, who looked as if he was having fun.

"The problem is that you both have a secret that you're keeping from each other. The little birds and myself are getting tired of waiting for you to 'confess' your secrets to each other." said Yukio.

Iruka and Kakashi were staring at him with growing alarm and comprehension. _He wouldn't…. _thought Iruka wide-eyed.

_Oh, no, no, no. Hell no. _thought Kakashi, starting to sweat.

To their ever growing horror, Yukio stood up with a serious and determined look on his face. It was a real contrast to his usually mild expression and placid smile. "Hatake Kakashi, you're in love with Umino Iruka. Umino Iruka, you're in love with Hatake Kakashi."

Iruka sat still on the couch, mouth hanging open and face turning red as he turned to face Kakashi. Kakashi looked back at him, his single eye slowly blinking.

Yukio decided that this was a sufficient 'push', and disappeared onto the roof where he made a small prayer before heading home. _Kami-sama, please don't let them be mad enough to try killing me._

They didn't notice or care that he had left. Iruka was the first to speak. "What he said about…you…with me….was that true?"

Kakashi took a deep breath, scooted closer to Iruka, pulled down his mask, and said with a lop-sided grin, "Hell yeah, I'm in love you."

Iruka startled Kakashi by throwing his arms around him in a tight hug. "I'm so glad! I've been so worried that you'd be upset if you found out about how I felt." Kakashi could hear Iruka starting to sniffle and felt a bit of wetness on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around Iruka's shoulders and returned the hug. "So you love me then?" Kakashi laughed at Iruka's mumbled reply of 'What do you think baka?'

"I had a lot of scenarios thought up for how this scene would go, but none of them really turned out like this. And don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to Yukio and his three 'little birds', but I still think they need to be punished for meddling." said Kakashi with an evil glint in his eye.

He felt Iruka laugh against his shoulder before he moved back a bit to scrub a sleeve across his face. "You have such a vindictive streak in you." said Iruka as he smiled weakly.

"Are you done crying now?" asked Kakashi. Iruka nodded. "Now this begs the question. Why are you in love with a vindictive, lazy, never punctual, perverted bum like myself?"

Iruka smiled at this, "That's easy, it's because of your devoted loyalty to the citizens of Konoha. You show a great deal of consideration and kindness to your friends. You're a strong shinobi, and…" Iruka trailed off with a bright blush as he glanced at Kakashi's face and looked down.

"And because I'm the most devilishly handsome man you've ever met?" added Kakashi with a small smirk on his face.

Iruka mumbled out a maybe. He then looked up at Kakashi inquiringly, "What about you? I'm plain and boring, and don't have any outstanding achievements to speak of. What's there to love?"

"You're kidding me right?" asked Kakashi incredulously. He cupped the sides of Iruka's face with both hands. "I think you're far from plain. I'd say you're beautiful, but I don't think the word would do you justice. I'm never bored when you're around. In fact, I don't think I've had a single boring moment since I met you. If you want to know what you've achieved, than look at your students. They're some of the best genin to ever come out of that academy, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them become some of the best shinobi of their age."

Iruka didn't know what to say at first. He gave Kakashi a small smile, "You always seem to know what I need to hear."

Kakashi smiled slyly, "You know what step comes after confession don't you?"

Iruka blinked and shook his head. "This is the first time I've ever been in love with anyone, and I've never been one to read romances."

Kakashi's smile grew. "Than I don't suppose you've ever kissed anyone before either?"

"No…"

Kakashi's smile softened a bit and he brought his face closer to Iruka's. "May I give you your first kiss Iruka?" he asked in almost a whisper.

Iruka's eyes widened a bit and he blushed even more before giving a slight nod. He kept his eyes open and watched as Kakashi brought his face even closer, a mere hairsbreadth away. Kakashi tilted his head just slightly, and gently pressed his lips against Iruka's for a few seconds before pulling back. He looked into Iruka's eyes, silently asking permission to continue. Iruka answered by lightly pressing his lips against Kakashi's. Kakashi started to move his lips against Iruka's.

His lips were soft and warm against his, causing a new sensation that was warm and pleasant to develop in him. Iruka closed his eyes and gave Kakashi free reign.

Kakashi lightly sucked on Iruka's lower lip, and then covered his mouth. He tried to deepen the kiss but Iruka pulled back. "What's wrong?"

Iruka looked down embarrassed. "I'm sorry. It… it just felt weird when you tried to put your tongue in my mouth."

Kakashi laughed and leaned his forehead against Iruka's while wrapping his arms around his shoulders. "That's alright. We'll save that for the future."

Iruka nodded and they remained silent for a bit without moving.

"Kakashi?" said Iruka tentatively.

"Hmmm?"

"What should we do now?"

Kakashi thought about it, and then moved back to look at Iruka and smile, "Lets take a nap."

Before Iruka had a chance to ask Kakashi what he meant or to be surprised, he found himself being pulled on top of him as he lay back with a flop. Kakashi shifted around until he was comfortable and had Iruka's head lying on his chest.

"Ano, Kaka-"

"Shh, just relax for now. We'll talk during dinner." said Kakashi quietly. He pulled Iruka's hair tie off, and started to slowly run his fingers through his hair, marveling at the smooth silkiness of the dark brown strands. "You know, that was the first time you called me just Kakashi."

"Oh, you don't mind do you?"

"No, I love the way you say it." Kakashi shifted so he could rest his head on Iruka's. He smelled his hair and sighed in contentment. _Clean and wholesome, just like I imagined. _He shut his eyes and continued to stroke Iruka's hair. They both drifted into a pleasant sleep, happy to finally be free of the secret they had each been keeping from one another.

* * *

Going back through and reading this, after how long its been since I posted it, I can't help but feel a little floored that I wrote something like this. Its strange. I wonder if its okay to admit that your amused by your own writing.

Thank you to the following people for reviewing: seporith's angel, Maliciously Creative, Peridot Pooka, mini-kero, Omi Maxwell, Rachel Dracon, godess of sand, anbu-kakashi(), snow887, wyldcat, Smoking Panda, Sei the Purple Ryu, Xaphania 49, RedVulpine, and Isolde1.

Jaa ne!


	9. Final step

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Naruto is a creation of Masashi Kishamoto-sensei.

**Note: **This chapter was edited on May 26, 2006. I made only minor spelling and grammar corrections to this chapter.

Well damn, it's been a long time since I updated. Yes, that's right, I didn't drop off the face of the earth. I've just been busy with other things. Sorry for taking so long and I hope everyone's been doing well. This is the final chapter for this fic. I'll still be working on the other one, and I might start a new one. I'm also going to go through and edit all the previous chapters and update my profile.

Without further ado, the final chapter.

**Since When Was Boredom The First Step To Love?**

Chapter nine-The Final Step.

By Riyo-sama

"So you just showed up at the house and blurted out to both of them that they're in love with each other? What kind of plan was that?" said Naruto. The three genin were waiting for Kakashi, and decided to take advantage of his lateness to speak with Yukio.

"Well, most of the time when an interfering third party tries to use an elaborate set-up to put people together, it ends up causing lots of problems and misunderstandings. I thought it would be better to just tell them both the truth and let them sort it out for themselves. Although I'm afraid they might hate me now because I promised that I wouldn't tell them how they felt about each other, so maybe they think I'm not trustworthy now." Yukio stared at the ground looking crestfallen.

"Yukio-san, I'm sure they don't think that. They'll probably be thanking you." said Sakura with a reassuring pat on his arm.

"Thank you Haruno-san. Although, I think even if they are happy, Kakashi-sempai will still want to get some sort of revenge on me for breaking my word." said Yukio with instantly reviving spirits. Just then Kakashi popped in among the group next to Yukio.

"Ohayou!" he said to them all.

They all returned his greeting. Yukio made to leave with the excuse that he had things to do, but Kakashi grabbed the back of his coat and stopped him. "I checked in the mission room, you don't have any missions for today or tomorrow, so you have some time to spare. Hang around a bit." He said this without malice, but the implication that 'no' wasn't a good answer was there nonetheless.

"Okay." said Yukio, looking a bit nervous.

"I've got a mission with some other jounin, so you don't have training today, but I do have a task for the four of you." said Kakashi.

"Four? Wait, does that mean Yukio-san is helping too?" asked Sakura.

"Yes. He has nothing better to do, so he can help with this." Yukio didn't dare to object because there was a vindictive glint in Kakashi's eye.

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Sasuke, who had been watching the proceeding with boredom.

"You're going to help Iruka clean out his storage room. Apparently he hasn't cleaned it since he moved into that house five years ago, so it's quite dusty and disorganized." Kakashi scratched his head. "It's kind of surprising considering how neat he keeps the rest of the house. Anyways, that's what you're going to do for the rest of the day. I'll see you all later." He left them the same way he had come, in a poof of smoke.

"We forgot to ask him what happened!" said Naruto. They all gave a collective sigh.

* * *

"I really appreciate the help everyone." said Iruka while he opened the door to the storage room. There were rags, dust mops, and brooms sitting next to the door. Yukio had put his hair in a braid with help from Sakura so it wouldn't be in his way, and Sakura herself had a handkerchief tied over her hair to protect it from the dust. Naruto was scowling at the prospect of having to clean someone else's house. Sasuke was bored and just wanted to get it over with. 

The room was dark. Iruka flipped on the lights, but only one came on, and it chose that moment to burn out. "Guess I'll have to go in back and open the curtains on the windows." said Iruka. He walked into the room and disappeared behind a stack of boxes. They could hear rustling and bumping sounds as he made his way towards the back. At one point they heard him curse shortly before the sound of several things falling reached them and a cloud of dust floated out into the hall way.

"Iruka-sensei, daijoubu ka?"asked Sakura.

"Yes, perfectly fine, don't worry." came the reply somewhere near the back. There was some more shuffling and rustling heard from the back until finally they heard the sound of curtains being pulled back. The room flooded with light, illuminating the three large shelves that stood in the room and the boxes and piles of various objects that surrounded them. Iruka came back to the front of the room, looking dusty but otherwise alright. "Why don't you three spread some blankets and sheets outside to set everything on while Yukio-san and I start gathering the items that aren't in boxes up?"

The three genin fetched the sheets and blankets from the cabinet and left the room. Iruka started pulling empty boxes towards the front. Yukio stood and watched for a moment and then cleared his throat. Iruka paused in what he was doing to look at Yukio in question. "You're not upset about yesterday, Iruka-san?" was his question. He looked away slightly embarrassed.

Iruka looked surprised. "No, I'm not mad at all. I'm very grateful to you in fact. I've been in such an agony over how to tell him, and I'm so relived now that he knows. You lifted a really big weight off of my shoulders."

"I'm glad." said Yukio with a relived smile. He took one of the empty boxes that Iruka had brought up front and started stacking some of the items scattered on the floor inside. "So, may I ask what happened after I left?"

Iruka turned so he wasn't facing Yukio to hide his blush. "Um, we kissed."

"Is that all?" asked Yukio.

"We talked some too. About when we first fell for each other, and about how we had been dealing with our feelings until then." said Iruka, who continued to look away.

"Sounds like a good start to me. I hope your relationship will be a happy one." said Yukio with a very warm smile that was completely sincere.

"Thank you." said Iruka, finally looking at him again and smiling in return, blush still in place.

* * *

"That went much faster than I thought it would." said Iruka. He surveyed the storage room which was now free of dust and clutter, the shelves neatly lined with boxes and the light from the windows illuminating it more freely. "Thank you all again. I hate to think of how long it would have taken me to clean it out on my own." 

The other four thanked him for his gratitude. It was 6:00 o'clock P.M., but it wasn't late enough in the summer for the sky to be dim yet. "Would you all like to stay for dinner? It's the least I can do." offered Iruka.

Yukio and Naruto both readily agreed, having both developed a great liking for Iruka's cooking. Sasuke seemed to think about it a bit before silently nodding his head.

"I'm sorry Iruka-sensei, but I can't stay. My mother wanted me to be home tonight because we have a guest coming. Thanks for asking though." said Sakura.

"Alright. Thank you for all your help today Haruno-san." said Iruka.

After exchanging farewells, the four went off to clean themselves up and make dinner.

* * *

Kakashi came home bruised, tired, but cheerful. Coming home to a warm home cooked meal, friends, and the one you love can make anything more bearable. 

When he entered the house he found Yukio sitting in one of the arms chairs and watching the TV. Enticing aromas were wafting in from the kitchen and the sound of happy chatter could be heard.

When Yukio noticed Kakashi he turned off the TV and nervously greeted him. "Konbanwa, Kakashi-sempai."

"Konbanwa, Yukio. Is the storage room clean?"

"Hai, there's not a speck of dust left. Was your mission a success?"

"Yeah, more or less. Where are the kids?"

"Haruno-san went home to eat with her family, Naruto-kun and Uchiha-san are helping Iruka-san make dinner." Silence fell. One, two, three minutes stretched on until Yukio spoke up, "Ano, sempai, about yesterday, if I have intruded a little too much I am sorry."

"On the contrary, I'm very grateful. You've done us both a favor by helping us to over come a great difficulty. I was in such an agony for so long, and now I'm just so relieved to have everything said and revealed. And I've decided that I'm going to return the favor." Kakashi started walking towards the hall.

Yukio turned around in the chair so he could kneel and look at Kakashi over the back as he asked in great alarm, "Wait! What do you mean return the favor?"

"I'm going to do for you what you've done for Iruka and me. Why not share the happiness?"

"But you don't, I mean I don't need, there's no one I'm interested in!" sputtered Yukio.

Kakashi brought his face level with Yukio's and said very flatly, "You mean to tell me that out of all the single people in Konoha, there's not a single one that you've had even a fleeting romantic thought about?"

Redness creeped into Yukio's cheeks, and he dropped his eyes to the floor before mumbling, "There…might be someone."

Kakashi clapped him on the shoulder and stood up. "Don't worry too much about it. I'll be subtle and leave most of it to you." Kakashi went off down the hall humming and Yukio slumped over the chair with a groan.

* * *

Kakashi had a good idea as to who Yukio's affections were held towards, and he even had the feeling that the affections were reciprocated, but this he knew was not enough to make a final conclusion. A few weeks went by. He watched Yukio's interactions with everyone like a hawk, but still couldn't get a solid confirmation. 

On the other hand, his relationship with Iruka was blossoming beautifully. They kissed occasionally and would sometimes hold hands. Kakashi started sleeping in Iruka's bed when they were both home, although they never did anything more than hold each other. They had discussed the physical side of the relationship and decided to wait until a special occasion to do anything.

Kakashi was sitting under a tree contemplating how to set up Yukio, while Yukio was sitting up in the branches reading a book. After a while Kakashi looked up at him. He seemed completely absorbed in his book. Kakashi walked up the tree until he reached a branch that would put his head at a level with the book. He looked at the title on the cover first.

'_Wet desires'? Is he reading an erotic novel? _Kakashi looked over Yukio's shoulder, and had his suspicions confirmed as he goggled at the picture in front of his eyes.

There was a picture of two men in a shower naked. One was bracing himself against the wall with both hands, a look of ecstasy on his face. The other man stood behind him with an arm wrapped around his chest, his face buried in the other mans shoulder and neck. His other hand was stroking the man's penis, while he thrust his own inside the man. After getting over his initial surprise, he commented "I never really pictured you as the type who would read erotica."

"Genma-san said the same thing." replied Yukio. As if saying the name had brought an unbidden image into his mind, he blushed and snapped the book shut. "Was there something I could help you with Kakashi-sempai?"

"Nothing in particular." said Kakashi. He looked down and stared for a few moments and without looking up asked, "May I borrow that book?"

"Sure." Yukio handed the book to Kakashi who immediately pocketed it.

"Okay, now please don't hold any hard feelings about this." said Kakashi who still hadn't looked up.

"About what?" asked Yukio, who was about to look down to see what Kakashi was staring at so intently.

"This." said Kakashi, who without any further warning shoved Yukio off the branch. Kakashi listened to Yukio yell on the way down, and smiled with satisfaction when the yell was replaced by a yelp of surprise from someone else.

Kakashi jumped down to a lower branch to get a better look at his handy work before disappearing with a pleased look on his face. Yukio was stretched out on top of someone. His hair had come untied and was spread out over the persons face. They had obviously tried to catch him because they had their arms wrapped around him. Yukio pushed himself up and moved aside so the other person could sit up. He pulled his headband up which had slipped down over his eyes. He became alarmed when he found Genma looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Do I want to know why Kakashi just pushed you out of a tree on top of me?"

"Um, I don't know why myself." He looked down at the ground nervously. "I didn't hurt you when I fell on you, did I?"

"No, and shouldn't I be the one asking if you're hurt, seeing as how you're the one that fell out of a tree?" He stood and dusted himself off and then offered Yukio a hand up. Yukio took it with a smile.

"I'm perfectly alright. You broke my fall after all."

Genma looked at his smiling face and then at his hair. "Come here, I'll fix your hair for you." He turned Yukio around and pulled his back. He started brushing out twigs and leaves while running his fingers through to remove tangles. Yukio's face was burning bright red. "There's going to be a night festival tomorrow."

Yukio turned his head to look back at him. Genma continued. "I was wondering if you would like to go with me?"

"Really? You want to go with me?"

"Yes." He tied up Yukio's hair with a bit of string. "Unless you'd rather not?"

He turned to Genma with his entire face beaming. "I'd love to go with you, and I've never been to a night festival before."

"I'm glad to hear that. And I know you don't have a yukata, so I thought we could stop by at this shop I know. I saw a pattern that would suit you very well."

"Alright." said Yukio. Genma took him by the hand and started pulling him in the direction of the village but then stopped. "I almost forgot to do something." Leaned down and planted a kiss on Yukio's lips. Yukio went stock still and turned red from his forehead down to his neck. After the light but warm kiss Genma straightened back up and smiled at him. "Just so you know, it's a date."

Yukio could do nothing but nod and allow Genma to pull him the rest of the way to the village.

* * *

"Kakashi, are you almost ready?" called Iruka as he finished pulling on tabi socks and grabbed a pair of sandals. He wore a simple yukata of light blue with a single silver dolphin near the hem and a plain black obi around his waist. He had his hair tied down lower so that it wouldn't stick up like it usually did. 

"I'm ready now." said Kakashi. He came into the living room from the hall, tying his headband in place. He was wearing a black turtle neck and blue jeans, and of course the mask was in place.

"You look good. I hardly ever see you out of uniform so this is a real treat." said Iruka with a look of appreciation.

"Same to you, you look quite nice in a yukata."

"Thank you, shall we go?"

"Yes, lets." said Kakashi. They left the house. Iruka took Kakashi's arm and they walked to the festival. Everything was lit with the glow of paper lanterns. The stalls were surrounded by throngs of people in yukata playing games, buying foods and confections, and children playing and laughing.

They walked around mostly just talking and holding hands, greeting people they knew and occasionally stopping at a stall to buy a snack. They met Genma and Yukio as they were leaving a stall selling candy. Yukio was holding a very large bag and grinning like a child. Genma was holding his hand with the look of a man who was completely content with everything in his life.

"Yukio-san, you must have a really big sweet tooth to buy that much." said Iruka.

"It's not all for me. Anko-chan asked me to get some sweets for her since she has night patrol and can't come. And when everyone else on night patrol found out that I was bringing something back for her, they all put in requests too."

"That was nice of you. Isn't that the yukata that was in the shop next to the florist? It looks great on you." said Iruka.

"Thank you. Genma picked it out for me." The yukata was solid blue at the bottom and faded to white near the top. The obi was colored to match the kimono, and he had left his hair untied so that it hung about his shoulder and back. Genma had gone the casual route like Kakashi but had chosen to wear a button down shirt instead of a turtle neck.

Right about then Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke came by. Sakura was dragging Naruto behind her and stopped to greet the four men. She pulled Naruto forward into the circle. "Doesn't Naruto look nice?"

Naruto looked embarrassed. "It's not that big a deal." He was dressed in a deep red-orange yukata with a red obi. His hair was in a somewhat tamer state than usual and he was immaculately clean.

"It is so a big deal! Sasuke was kind enough to buy the yukata for you and I went to the trouble of picking it out and helping you look nice. I'm going to to show you off to my hearts content." said Sakura huffily.

Naruto was slowly turning red from the attention. He tried to move the scrutiny from himself to Sakura by calling attention to her own attire. "Sakura, you look real pretty in that yukata." Sakura giggled and twirled once. Her yukata was red with pink cherry blossoms and a pink obi. Her hair was held up with a carved wooden comb.

"Are you all staying for the fire works later?" asked Iruka.

"Yes." said Sakura. Naruto perked up at the mention of fire works.

"Of course we're staying for fireworks. That's the part I've been looking forward to the most. I've never seen a fireworks display."

"It's not that exciting." said Sasuke. He was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt, and had been silent through out the whole exchange. He looked like he was fighting between being amused and being annoyed.

"You only say that because you've seen them before and wouldn't know what fun is if it fell on your head." said Naruto.

Heading off a potential argument, Sakura grabbed Naruto by the arm and pointed to a stall on the other side of the street. "I want to go over there and get a water yo-yo." She pulled Naruto along with her. Sasuke followed with a scowl on his face. The four men all gave a collective 'hmmm' after the kids left.

"Can anyone clarify to me what exactly is going on between those three." asked Genma.

"It's quite simple actually. It used to be that Sakura would ignore Naruto while trying to get Sasuke's attention. Naruto would try to get Sakura's attention, and after failing to do so pick a fight with Sasuke. Sasuke would ignore both of them while waiting for Naruto to pick a fight with him or make a jab at Naruto to incite him." explained Kakashi.

"That sounds about right." said Iruka. "But what's happened to change things?"

"Sakura is starting to pay more attention to Naruto. I don't know if she realized that she was wasting her time on Sasuke or if she just finally started to warm up to him, but she's been talking with him and not chasing after Sasuke like she used to. In turn, because Naruto all the sudden has her attention he doesn't feel as inclined to fight with Sasuke anymore and Sakura is making more of an effort to calm him down when Sasuke throws an insult at him. This leaves Sasuke without all the attention he usually gets, and he doesn't seem to know what to do about. He's annoyed about being ignored, and he's also annoyed at himself for having to admit that he needs the attention. I think there might even be a bit of jealousy mixed in there."

"Yeah, but which one is he jealous of?" asked Yukio. They all looked over at the kids. Naruto and Sakura were both trying to hook a yo-yo while Sasuke watched with a scowl. Sakura had two already and Naruto was getting frustrated while his hook kept breaking. They saw Sakura offer Naruto one of hers and he took it with a happy smile. Sasuke's scowl deepened.

"That's hard to say. But either way I don't think we should interfere yet. At their age it can sometimes do more harm then good to interfere with the relationships they're trying to forge." said Kakashi.

* * *

After the fireworks Iruka and Kakashi went home with their arms around each other's waists. They were both in high spirits and feeling a little giddy. As soon as they were in the house and had the door shut, Kakashi scooped up Iruka and started spinning in a circle. Iruka started laughing and said, "Kakashi, stop, you're going to make me dizzy!" 

Kakashi stopped spinning and walked over to the couch were he flopped down in the middle with Iruka in his lap and wrapped his arms around his waist. "I am a very happy man right now and do you know why?"

"Why?" asked Iruka who had wrapped his arms around Kakashi neck.

"Because I'm with the one I love and he loves me back." said Kakashi. Iruka gave him a kiss for that. After the kiss Iruka put his mouth next to his ear and whispered something.

Kakashi's eyes widened in amazement, "Are you sure? Do you really want to?"

Iruka smiled at him and placed a hand on his cheek, "We agreed to wait for a special occasion, and I would say that tonight was pretty special."

Kakashi took the hand on his face and kissed it. Then he kissed Iruka long and deep. He lifted Iruka up once more and carried him to the bedroom, threw Ame out, and thanked whoever was listening that Iruka had a day off tomorrow and that his students wouldn't expect him to be on time anyways.

Fin.

* * *

Right then, that was the end of the fic. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope this last chapter wasn't too sappy for you. I don't know how long it will take me to get the next chapter of Perfect Articulation up. I might do a one shot too. I also have to change the way I respond to reviews. According to my sister they don't allow for script formatting or something like that, and that's what my responses resemble. So I'll just be listing them instead. 

Thanks go to the following people for reviewing (hopefully you remember that you reviewed): Isoldel1, PirateBun, malefic us-lupus, snow887, xtwilightzx, ShiKoi(), Tokugawa Blitzer, Renn, Sai(), jemu, Gil-Estel of Mirkwood, Sabku-no-Gaara-sand-nin, Hiroe, Hokai Amplifier, Jen-be blade-fan, Kichi Hisaki, drifting wanderer, Cassiel Darkmoon, Mirai-Kung, Shino-Shikamaru, jo(), Dragon Theif, Karail-chan, Tinwe Amarth, Lunael, Curiou Dream Weaver, SarahFina, Wannaseemymoon.

Special thanks go to SarahFina for the wonderful fanart that she drew, thanks so much. And in answer to a question from Kichi Hisaki, no, I'm not an English teacher. I'm a college student. The university provides us with an e-mail address, and it's the only one I've ever had, so that's why my address has .edu at the end.

Finally, thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story to the end. Jaa ne!


End file.
